PulpFest 2014 will start on Thursday, August 7th. The dealers’ room will be open to registered sellers to set up their displays from 4 to 11 PM. Ohio State’s Thompson Library will also offer a free lecture at 4:30 PM. Early registration for all convention attendees will take place outside the dealers’ room from 5 to 9 PM. There will be early-bird shopping available to PulpFest members who will be staying at the Hyatt Regency Columbus from 6 to 10 PM. Our full slate of programming will get underway at 8 PM.
Thursday, August 7th
4:00 PM – 11:00 PM – Dealer Set-Up – the dealers’ room will be open to dealers to assemble their displays.
4:30 PM – Ohio State Lecture Series – author and pulp fan Laurie Powers will be speaking about her grandfather, the noted pulp writer Paul Powers, at Ohio State’sThompson Library. PulpFest members are invited to attend this annual lecture sponsored by Ohio State University.
5:00 PM – 9:00 PM – Early Registration – general members and dealers will be able to register for PulpFest.
6:00 PM – 10:00 PM – Early-Bird Shopping – the dealers’ room will be open to loyal attendees who help to defray the convention’s costs by staying three nights at our host hotel. The cost is $30 for those who stay elsewhere.
Evening Programming
8:00 PM – Remembering Frank Robinson – winner of the 2000 Lamont Award,Frank Robinson was the author of The Power, Pulp Culture, Science Fiction of the 20th Century, and other works. Years before setting pen to paper, Frank was collecting pulp magazines. PulpFest pays tribute to the author, collector, and friend who passed away on June 30th of this year.
8:30 PM – Frank Munsey’s Famous Fantastic Mysteries – Blood ‘n’ Thunder editorEd Hulse and author Nathan Madison discuss this reprint magazine, one of the major science-fiction titles started in 1939. It introduced new readers to the classic “scientific romances” that originally appeared in the premier Munsey magazinesThe Argosy and All-Story Weekly.
9:15 PM – The Avenger’s Diamond Jubilee – in 1939, Richard Henry Benson, the chalk-faced crime fighter who founded “Justice, Incorporated,” was the last of Street & Smith’s major pulp heroes to get his own magazine. Pop-culture scholar Rick Lai offers a behind-the-scenes history of the character’s creation and development.
10:00 PM – The Farmerian Vision – moderator Paul Spiteri and panelists Jason Aiken and Christopher Paul Carey will discuss the unique way in which the Hugo award–winning author blended pulp elements and themes with his science-fictional works..
11:00 PM – Buck Rogers – Chapters 1 – 4 of this science fiction classic from 1939, this Universal serial starred Larry “Buster” Crabbe as the time-traveling hero introduced in Philip Nowlan’s 1928 pulp novella “Armageddon 2419 A.D.”
Friday, August 8th
9:00 AM – 10 AM – Early Registration – all members will be able to register for PulpFest. The dealers’ room will be open only to dealers for set-up.
10:00 AM – 5 PM – Wheeling and Dealing – the dealers’ room will be open to all.
1:30 PM – The New Fictioneers – Dick Enos, author of the popular Rick Steele adventure books, will read from four of his novels as well as his not-yet-released Rick Steele adventure, The Monster of Chinatown.
2:30 PM – The New Fictioneers – Christopher Paul Carey, the coauthor with Philip José Farmer of Gods of Opar: Tales of Lost Khokarsa, and the author of Exiles of Kho, will read from the Farmer-inspired “The Goddess Equation.”
3:30 PM – The New Fictioneers – Ralph L. Angelo, Jr., winner of the 2014 New Pulp Award for Best New Author, will read from his Crystalon series and The Cagliostro Chronicles.
Evening Programming
7:30 PM – Welcome to PulpFest – Chairman Jack Cullers offers an official welcome to all attendees
7:40 PM – 1939: Science Fiction’s Boom Year – a brief overview of the “big bang” that launched six science-fiction pulps and ushered in the genre’s Golden Age.
8:00 PM – Startling Stories: An Overview – designed as a companion to Thrilling Wonder Stories, this pulp outlasted most of its competitors and became one of the most respected science-fiction pulps in the field. PulpFest‘s Ed Hulse presents a slideshow of Startling’s 99 covers and touches on the many famous yarns published in its pages.
8:30 PM – A Feast of Farmer: PJF’s Early Science Fiction – Meteor Housepublisher Mike Croteau and Book Cave co-host Art Sippo review Philip José Farmer’s pulp and digest stories, including “The Lovers,” a classic tale from Startling Stories that pioneered the intelligent use of sex in science fiction.
9:00 PM – Pulp Promos, Part Two – in a sequel to his extremely well-received presentation of last year, Chris Kalb takes another look at the now-rare premiums that pulp fans of yore could obtain for a dime and a coupon.
9:30 PM – Eighty Years of Terror – weird-menace fiction was less than a year old when its most successful and long-lasting exponent, Terror Tales, first appeared on the nation’s newsstands in the summer of 1934. A blue-ribbon panel of fans and collectors weighs in on this Popular Publications title, as well as other shudder pulps.
10:30 PM – Science Fiction’s “Golden Age” – under the editorship of John W. Campbell, Street & Smith’s Astounding Science Fiction was the genre’s trend setter, introducing many of the field’s top authors and publishing some of its most memorable stories. This presentation reviews Astounding’s 1939 issues, which featured the early fiction of Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, Theodore Sturgeon, and A. E. van Vogt.
11:00 PM – Buck Rogers – Chapters 5 – 8 follows Buck and his pal Buddy Wade in their battle against the ruthless dictator, Killer Kane, and his army of super-racketeers.
Saturday, August 9th
9:00 AM – 4:45 PM – Wheeling and Dealing – the dealers’ room will be open to all.
1:00 PM – New Pulp Fiction Panel – moderator Ron Fortier is joined by writers Ralph Angelo, Jim Beard, Wayne Reinagel, Frank Schildiner, and Art Sippo as they discuss “The Fun of Writing Pulp Fiction.”
2:00 PM – The New Fictioneers – Jim Beard, author of the Captain Action novels and creator of Sgt. Janus, Spirit Breaker, will read from Sgt. Janus Returns,Monster Earth, and Pride of the Mohicans.
3:00 PM – The New Fictioneers – Frank Schildiner, who has written for Black Coat Press, Pulp Obscura, and others, will read from his forthcoming Thunder Jim Wade novella and a story from the Tales of the Shadowmen series.
5:00 PM – 7 PM – Saturday Night Dinner – join your fellow fans of pulp fiction for a delightful meal at Buca di Beppo in this get-together arranged by registration and volunteer coordinator Sally Cullers. (Note: Sorry, but this has sold out!)
Evening Programming
7:30 PM – PulpFest 2014 Business Meeting – all members are invited to ask questions and offer suggestions at this session.
7:50 PM – 2014 Munsey Award Presentation – Pop Culture Professor and unabashed pulp fan Garyn G. Roberts will present this year’s Munsey Award to a select individual.
8:00 PM – Unknown: The Best in Fantasy Fiction – celebrate the 75th birthday of Street & Smith’s Unknown, the home to many of the pulp era’s most memorable—and oft-anthologized—fantasy and horror stories. We revisit the magazine’s highlights, including Edd Cartier’s magnificent artwork, in our tribute.
8:30 PM – The Mystery and Mastery of John Newton Howitt –art historian David Saunders chronicles the life and career of this prolific pulp artist, paying special attention to his memorable covers for the Popular Publications weird-menace magazines Terror Tales and Horror Stories.
9:30 PM – Saturday Night at the Auction – auctioneers John Gunnison and Joseph Saine are back to sell rare collectibles consigned by PulpFest dealers and attendees.
11:30 PM – Buck Rogers – Chapters 9 – 12 bring the 1939 Universal serial directed by Ford Beebe and Saul A. Goodkind to an exciting and satisfying close.
Sunday, August 10th
Daytime Schedule
9:00 AM – 2 PM – Wheeling and Dealing – the dealers’ room will be open to all as our dealers pack up. Buying and selling opportunities may be limited.
For questions and/or suggestions about our programming, please write to programming director Ed Hulse at ed@pulpfest.com.
