Although PulpFest is well known for its excellent programming — and rightfully so . . . just click our red “schedule” button on our home page to see all of the great programming we have lined up for 2015 — it is also lauded for its very substantial dealers’ room. Beginning on Thursday, August 13th, the 15,800 square-foot Regency Ballroom will house collectible pulp magazines and digests, vintage paperbacks, first edition hardcovers and series books, original art, B-movies and serials, collectible comic books, and more. And remember: for those members staying at the Hyatt-Regency Columbus, you’ll be able to partake in free, early-bird shopping on Thursday evening from 6 to 10 PM. For those staying elsewhere, early-bird shopping privileges will cost $30 if paid for at the door. The cost is $25 if you pay in advance.
In addition to Thursday’s early-bird hours, the PulpFest dealers’ room will be open from 10 AM to 4:30 PM on August 14-15 and from 10 AM to 2 PM on Sunday, August 16th. Note that buying and selling opportunities on Sunday may be limited as dealers pack up for their trip home.
Who will be selling at PulpFest 2015? For the next four days, we’ll be profiling some of our dealers, telling you a little bit about each of them so you get to know them a little better. Away we go . . .
A dealer since 1976, NICK CERTO always manages to unearth lots of rare and desirable items. A resident of Newburgh, New York, he brings choice selections of pulps and related items — including original artwork — to the conventions where he exhibits. Be sure to stop by his table. In the meantime, please visit the Nicholas J. Certo website at AbeBooks.com.
JONATHAN SWEET, a professional writer and editor, is the owner of CHASKA BOOKS, a mostly online business located in Chaska, Minnesota. This will be his first PulpFest. Although Jonathan sells a wide variety of books, he specializes in first editions and signed books, especially from small presses. He’ll also have old paperbacks, pulp reprints, old-time radio, and other pulp-related items.
Our 2010 Munsey Award winner MIKE CHOMKO will be representing Altus Press, Stark House Press, and other small publishers at PulpFest 2015. He’ll be premiering multiple titles from a number of publishers including John D. Haefele’s marvelous study of the “Origins of the Cthulhu Mythos,” A LOOK BEHIND THE DERLETH MYTHOS. Please visit the Mike Chomko Books website and download a copy of his latest catalog.
Please welcome new PulpFest dealer JOHN L. COKER III who comes to us via Florida. John is the current president of First Fandom, one of the oldest and most revered groups in science fiction fandom. John specializes in science fiction and fantasy, signed books, photographs and paper ephemera.
Not only is he the boss of PulpFest, Chairman JACK CULLERS is the person to see if you’re looking for pulps and out-of-print paperbacks, pulp reprints or hardbound fiction and non-fiction. Find your way to Jack’s table and you’ll find a wide variety of such material at very reasonable prices. You may just come across something you’ve been questing after for years. In 2014, Jack sold a copy of H. P. Lovecraft’s THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS, the first Arkham House book.
RAY WALSH of the CURIOUS BOOK SHOP has been selling a broad array of paper collectibles – pulps, paperbacks, original artwork, collectible hardcovers, vintage comic books, and more — for nearly fifty years. Out of East Lansing, Michigan, Ray has been selling at PulpFest — and Pulpcon before it — for decades. We appreciate his strong support and heartily recommend the convention he sponsors — Classicon — held two times each year in Lansing, Michigan.
A new and used book store that also sells pulps and comic books, DARK STAR BOOKS is located about an hour from Columbus, in picturesque Yellow Springs, Ohio. A longtime PulpFest dealer, GARY DIEDRIECH will be representing Dark Star at our 2015 convention. He will be offering a wide range of material including pulps, digests, Big Little Books, and collectible hardcovers and paperbacks.
DEARLY DEPARTED BOOKS is a brick & mortar shop located in Alliance, Ohio. It primarily sells via the Internet. Established in 1978 by SCOTT and LINDA EDWARDS, this loyal PulpFest dealer offers a large stock of mystery, science fiction, horror, fantasy, vintage paperbacks, pulp magazines, and related ephemera. They also have a good deal of first edition, genre fiction. Of particular interest this year is a large collection of original Photoplay editions in dust jackets, highlighted by DRACULA, FRANKENSTEIN and KING KONG.
Founded in 1977 and located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, this will be DREAMHAVEN BOOKS first PulpFest. GREG KETTER specializes in new and used science fiction, fantasy, and horror, as well as books, magazines posters, toys, and other materials related to the film industry. Greg has been selling books and pulps for over forty years. We look forward to adding Dreamhaven to our dealers’ room.
Let’s welcome new dealer DAVID EARLE to PulpFest. He’s planning to sell pulps and pulp-related material and his dealer tables. He’ll also have collectible paperbacks as well as miscellaneous genre-fiction and some comic-related books. David is an Associate Professor at the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida.
DOUG & DEB ELLIS, two of the founders of thepulps and pulp related material, collectable paperbacks, and miscellanious genre-fiction and comic related books. Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention, will be offering a wide selection of general fiction, science-fiction and other pulps as well as original art and other collectibles. They’ll also be bringing a number of issues of the first weird-menace pulp — DIME MYSTERY MAGAZINE — plus some Spicy pulps, and several early Burroughs magazines. Finally, Doug and Deb will also be representing Tom Roberts’ Black Dog Books at PulpFest 2015. Black Dog Books was founded to note the significant effect that pulp magazines have had on popular culture.
If you are a dealer or collector who would like to sell at PulpFest, please click the red “register” button on our home page or email convention chairperson Jack Cullers at jack@pulpfest.com for further information about the convention. To book a room for this year’s convention, please visit pulpcon.org/2015/06/16872/.
(“At the Mountains of Madness” was rejected by H. P. Lovecraft’s usual publisher, WEIRD TALES. Street & Smith accepted it for ASTOUNDING STORIES where it made the cover of the February 1936 issue, the climactic shoggoth attack being painted by Howard V. Brown. Although Lovecraft had nearly all his most famous stories published in WEIRD TALES, he was never given a cover feature during his lifetime.
Virgil Finlay created the dust jacket art for THE OUTSIDER AND OTHERS, a collection of stories by author H. P. Lovecraft. It was released in 1939 and was the first book published by Arkham House. 1,268 copies were printed. It went out of print early in 1944 and has never been reprinted.
The October 1933 number of DIME MYSTERY MAGAZINE was the first weird-menace issue of a pulp magazine. It featured front cover art by Walter Baumhofer. Similar magazines would follow, including HORROR STORIES, SPICY MYSTERY, and TERROR TALES. The Doctor Satan series was WEIRD TALES answer to the competition wrought by the weird-menace pulps.)
We’ll be profiling more of our 2015 PulpFest dealers in the days ahead. Please come back tomorrow.
