Although PulpFest is well known for its excellent programming — and rightfully so . . . click the “2016 schedule” button just below our banner on our home page to see all of the great programming we have lined up for 2016 — it is also lauded for its very substantial dealers’ room. Beginning on Thursday, July 21, the Battelle South exhibition hall on the third floor of the Greater Columbus Convention Center 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 9 PM. For those staying elsewhere, early-bird shopping privileges will cost $10 if you pay by July 1. After that date, early-bird privileges will be available for an additional $25 (if prepaid) or $30 (at the door).
In addition to Thursday’s early-bird hours, the PulpFest dealers’ room will be open from 10 AM to 4:45 PM on July 22 – 23 and from 10 AM to 2 PM on Sunday, July 24. 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 2016? For the next five 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 . . .
JOHN GUNNISON of ADVENTURE HOUSE will be offering his usual extensive stock of pulp magazines as well as HIGH ADVENTURE, G-8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES, and the many pulp replicas and collections he has published under the Adventure House banner. John will be our auctioneer during this year’s Saturday Night Auction, taking place on July 23. To learn more about John and Adventure House, please visit www.adventurehouse.com/.
Since 2007, AGE OF ACES BOOKS has been offering high-quality, affordably-priced reprints of classic pulp aviation stories. They have scoured hundreds of issues of titles like DARE-DEVIL ACES, BATTLE BIRDS, FLYING ACES, and SKY FIGHTERS to re-present to a modern audience the most thrilling air stories featuring the most unforgettable forgotten heroes — like Captain Philip Strange, Smoke Wade, and The Red Falcon! Crack open one of their many volumes and journey back to an AGE OF ACES! You can learn more by visiting Ages of Aces Books online at www.ageofaces.net.
RON FORTIER & ROB DAVIS are AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTIONS. One of the leading producers of “new pulp fiction,” Airship 27 brings you the classic heroes of yesteryear. From The Black Bat and Sherlock Holmes to Ki-Gor and Secret Agent X, you’ll find plenty of thrills by visiting their Online Hangar by clicking right here. Airship will have copies of their latest books — THE TOWERS OF METROPOLIS and HOLMES & HOUDINI — at PulpFest 2016. And watch for Ron at our “The AMAZING World of New Pulp” panel, taking place on Saturday afternoon.
JIM & WALTER ALBERT are brothers from Arkansas and Pennsylvania respectively. They’ve been collecting for years and selling at PulpFest since the very beginning. Stop by their tables for an excellent selection of pulps, paperbacks, hardcovers, fanzines, and much more. You’re bound to find excellent values on some terrific items from Jim and Walter. You probably won’t leave empty handed.
The Fayatteville Comic Con has called GENE CARPENTER a legendary comic book dealer. As ALL AMERICAN COMICS AND COLLECTIBLES, Gene has been setting up at comic book conventions for over forty years and is one of the nicest guys around. He has no website or facebook page, but does have an incredible selection of golden age, silver age, and high-grade pulp magazines. Gene comes to us from Maryland.
BATTERED SILICON DISPATCH BOX is a specialty publisher based in Ontario, Canada with GEORGE VANDERBURGH at the tiller. George has released over 600 books, including a wide variety of detective fiction and Sherlock Holmes scholarship, as well as his LOST TREASURES OF THE PULPS series that reprints many highly regarded pulp classics. You can learn more about George and his publishing efforts at www.batteredbox.com/.
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 our PulpFest sponsor, 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 second 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 2016. He’ll be premiering multiple titles from various publishers and have a selection of other material, including a number of early Arkhams. Please visit the Mike Chomko Books website and download a copy of his latest catalog.
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, collectible fanzines, pulp reprints or hardbound fiction and non-fiction. Find your way to Jack’s table and you’ll be treated to a wide variety of such material at very reasonable prices. You may just come across something you’ve been questing after for years.
If you are a dealer or collector who would like to sell at PulpFest, please click the “Register for 2016” button just below the banner at the top of our home page or email convention chairperson Jack Cullers at jack@pulpfest.com for further information about selling at the convention.
As of June 21, the Hyatt Regency Columbus had a small number of rooms available for July 21 through July 23. Their PulpFest rate ends on June 30. Please see our post “There Are Rooms at the Hyatt!”
At www.columbusconventions.com/thearea.php, you’ll find a list of area hotels courtesy of the Greater Columbus Convention Center. Alternately, you can search for a room at tripadvisor or a similar website to find a hotel near the convention. Thanks so much to everyone who has reserved a room at our host hotel. By staying at the Hyatt Regency, you’ve helped to ensure the convention’s success.
We’ll be profiling more of our 2016 PulpFest dealers in the days ahead. Please come back tomorrow.
(Most of our promotional materials for PulpFest 2016 featured Frank R. Paul’s cover art from the August 1927 issue of AMAZING STORIES, illustrating H. G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds.”
Chris Kalb — one of our 2016 Munsey Award nominees — designed the cover for STRANGE OPERATORS, published in 2015 by Age of Aces Books. It collects seven of Donald E. Keyhoe’s Captain Philip Strange stories, originally published between 1932 and 1939 in the pulp FLYING ACES.
In 1927, German filmmaker Fritz Lang brought to the screen one of the most ground-breaking science fiction films of all time. Set in a futuristic urban dystopia, the story follows the attempts of Freder, the son of the city’s ruler, and Maria, a citizen of the lower levels, to bridge the gulf separating the economic classes of the city. It is regarded as a classic and one of the first full-length movies in the genre. THE TOWERS OF METROPOLIS — published by Airship 27 — is an anthology of four dramatic tales which unfold in this amazing world prior to the events of that film. It features front cover art by the award-winning Michael W. Kaluta.)
