THE CENTURY'S BEST HORROR FICTION #53: A review of "The Altar" by Robert Sheckley

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If no one has ever called Sheckley the Jester of Science Fiction, well, they should have. And while he still wears his belled cap for “The Altar,” he firmly places himself in the realm of horror.



Mr. Slater is an average man living in an average small town in New Jersey. Then, one day on a train, he runs into a stranger who asks him, “Could you direct me to the Altar of Baz-Matain?” That sounds so outlandish to him that he’s confused at first. When he confesses ignorance, the stranger takes it pretty well and says he can probably figure it out.


Mr. Slater puzzles about this for the rest of the day, since he knows everything there is to know about his town. Later, he runs into the stranger again, who claims to have found the Altar . . . right next to the Temple of Dark Mysteries of Isis. Throw in the Dionysus-Africanus set, the Papa Legba-Damballa combine, and Mayor Atherhotep, and Mr. Slater suddenly starts wondering about the reality of his little town.


He complains to the mayor (whose name is Miller, not Atherhotep), who then says that he’s never heard of any of this wacky shit. Mrs. Slater thinks everything is laughable and says that the Better Business Bureau and PTA would stop any cults from infiltrating their town. Yet, when next Mr. Slater sees the stranger, he’s accompanied by another fellow who seems to understand about all of this.


Sounds pretty crazy, eh? Crazy was Sheckley’s specialty. But don’t go thinking that this story doesn’t have teeth. SPOILER ALERT: At his wits end, Mr. Slater runs into the stranger’s companion, who is in a hurry to get to the most recent ceremony. Mr. Slater insists on accompanying him, so he can get to the bottom of this mystery. After some reluctance, the fellow agrees and starts leading him through alleyways until . . . Mr. Slater doesn’t even recognize his town anymore. The buildings he’s familiar with are now eldritch and rotting, esoteric and sinister.


Finally, they reach the ceremony, and Mr. Slater hears a voice in the darkness asking, “Have you got it?” And the fellow’s response is probably the most chilling part of this story: “Of course. And he was willing, too.” Sheckley never comes out and explains this, which is all the more disturbing. Mr. Slater understands, though, and he shortly finds himself being dragged toward the altar, a willing sacrifice. END OF SPOILERS.


Sheckley has a really good ability to lull a reader into a false sense of security. It’s all light-hearted and funny, eliciting more than a few chuckles. But then, there’s that dark and nasty ending . . . . Yet another story that has earned its place in this book.

[This story first appeared in FANTASTIC #7 and cannot be read online at this time.]