PulpFest 2018 will begin on Thursday, July 26, at 3 PM, as our dealers begin to set up their displays for “Summer’s Great Pulp Con!” All members — dealers included — will be able to register for the convention from 4 to 8 PM, at the entrance to our dealers’ room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. To find our registration desk, please look for the large welcome banner, sponsored by AbeBooks.com, the online marketplace for books. AbeBooks not only has a passion for books, but a “passion for pulps” as well!
To help our registration proceed smoothly, please bring along a completed registration form. You can download a copy by clicking here or through the link found on our registration page.
There will be early-bird shopping in the dealers’ room from 5:30 to 8:30 PM on Thursday. It’s free for loyal attendees who help to defray the convention’s costs by staying at our host hotel. The cost is $30 for those who stay elsewhere. Our evening programming will begin at 8:40 PM with a presentation by Sai Shankar on Leonard H. Nason — Soldier and Writer.
2018 marks the centennial of the armistice that ended the First World War. Also called “The War to End All Wars” and “The Great War.” PulpFest 2018 is honoring the 100th anniversary of the war’s end by focusing on the so-called “war pulps” and the depiction of war in popular culture.
We’ll also be celebrating the century mark of Grand Master of Science Fiction Philip José Farmer. PulpFest and its associated convention — FarmerCon — will be saluting the acclaimed author of such works as ESCAPE FROM LOKI, THE DARK HEART OF TIME, the classic Riverworld series, and more.
And don’t forget about our Guest of Honor — Joe Lansdale — the award-winning author of over forty novels and numerous short stories. The convention will also be hosting a rare gallery showing of original art by Mark Wheatley. Mark is a much acclaimed comic book artist, book illustrator, and graphic designer.
You can find additional details about all of our programming by clicking the button found at the top of our home page. If you’d prefer to access our schedule via your mobile phone or tablet, go to http://pulpcon.org/schedule/. We’ll have banners outside each room where our programming events are taking place.
If you are not from the Pittsburgh area and have yet to book your room for this year’s PulpFest, you can try calling 1-800-222-8733 to reach our host hotel. Perhaps there is an opening. Please be sure to mention PulpFest in order to receive any special convention deals that may still be available. Thanks so much to everyone who has reserved a room at our host hotel. By staying at the DoubleTree, you’ve helped to ensure the convention’s success.
For those of you who have not yet registered for PulpFest 2018, Thursday will be an ideal time to do so. Full weekend memberships will cost $35 for those staying at the DoubleTree and $40 for those staying elsewhere. There will be no single-day memberships available for Thursday only. Children who are fifteen and younger and accompanied by a parent, will be admitted free of charge. Please visit our registration page for further details. Members will also be able to register for the convention on Friday morning, beginning at 9 PM, and at any time during regular dealers’ room hours. Single day memberships will be available for $20 for Friday or Saturday and $10 for Sunday. Advance registrations are no longer available. Our Paypal page was shut down at 10 PM on Monday night.
If you’re a member of Confluence — Pittsburgh’s long-running science fiction, fantasy and horror conference — and you’d like to attend PulpFest, just show your Confluence badge at our registration desk and you’ll get $10 off the price of our daily admission. PulpFest members who visit Confluence will receive the same discount. The two conventions are taking place over the same weekend! Watch for the Confluence posters at PulpFest.
From 3 PM to 11 PM on Thursday, the dealers’ room will be open for exhibitors to set up their displays. At this point, we urge all of our dealers to take full advantage of our generous load-in and set-up period. Access to the dealers’ room for unloading will be through the ballroom back entrance and the nearby banquet dock. Click here for a map showing the loading area of the hotel and here for a map of the DoubleTree’s Grand Ballroom.
If you need additional help getting to the hotel and/or the loading area, please call or text Jack Cullers at 937.671.1574. If Jack is not available, please text Chuck Welch at 608.406.4774. You can also call Chuck, but text will probably be faster.
Remember that we’ll have early-bird shopping in the dealers’ room from 5:30 to 8:30 PM on Thursday evening, an extra three hours of selling opportunities to people who are ready to buy!
Although the focus of PulpFest is pulp magazines and related materials, digests, vintage paperbacks, men’s adventure and true crime magazines, first-edition hardcovers, series books, dime novels, original art, Big Little Books, B-movies, serials and related paper collectibles, old-time-radio shows, and Golden and Silver Age as well as pulp-related comic books and games are also allowed.
From 9 to 10 AM on Friday, July 27, the dealers’ room will be open only to dealers for set-up. It will open to all at 10 AM and remain open until 4:45 PM. Our afternoon programming will start at 12:30 PM with our New Fictioneers readings. There will be five authors reading from their works and fielding questions and comments during the afternoon. Times can be found on our programming schedule. A copy of the schedule will be on the back of your membership badge.
The gallery showing of original art by acclaimed comic book artist, book illustrator, and graphic designer Mark Wheatley will open at 1 PM, as will the FarmerCon 100 showing of Memories of Phil, a video tribute to the late author.
The convention’s evening programming will begin shortly before 7 PM, with PulpFest chairman Jack Cullers welcoming all attendees. Afterward, our FarmerCon 100 panelists will discuss 100 Years of Philip José Farmer: His Influence and Legacy. Presentations on men’s adventure magazines, the air war pulps, and artist John Fleming Gould round out the evening’s programming. At 10 PM, PulpFest will host the first of two, large estate auctions. The convention will also accept material for the auction from its members. You’ll find additional details below.
On Saturday, July 28, the PulpFest dealers’ room will be open from 10 AM to 4:45 PM. Our afternoon programming will begin at 12:30 PM with our Farmer Jam. All members of FarmerCon 100 and PulpFest 2018 are welcome to read from their favorite Philip José Farmer work or reminisce about the author and his work.
Following the jam, our New Fictioneers readings will continue. There will be five authors reading from their works and fielding questions and comments until 4:30 PM.
The gallery showing of original art by acclaimed comic book artist, book illustrator, and graphic designer Mark Wheatley will open at 1 PM, as will the FarmerCon 100 showing of Memories of Phil, a video tribute to the late author.
From 5 to 6:30 PM, join your friends for our popular Saturday Night Dinner at ember & vine, in the heart of the DoubleTree Cranberry. It’s an opportunity to socialize after a hearty day of collecting in the PulpFest dealers’ room, prior to taking in the convention’s exceptional evening programming.
Saturday evening’s events will include the PulpFest 2018 business meeting, starting at 7 PM. Please try to attend as we will be discussing the future of PulpFest. It will be followed by the 2018 Munsey Award presentation. After the award ceremony, our Guest of Honor — award-winning author Joe R. Lansdale — will be interviewed by former journalist Tony Davis.
Presentations on the art of the war pulps and Philip José Farmer’s World War I writings round out the evening’s programming. At 10 PM, PulpFest will host the second of two, large estate auctions. The convention will also accept material for the auction from its members.
Any member of PulpFest 2018 can submit items to the auction. Your PulpFest badge number will be used as your auction bidder and/or seller number. We will begin taking consignments for the auction when our dealers’ room opens at 10 AM on both Friday and Saturday. The sooner you submit your consignments to our auction coordinator, Mike Chomko, the earlier it will come up for auction. Mike will be accepting material for our auction at his dealer’s tables. Watch for the auction banner and the Mike Chomko Books sign. All auction lots must be submitted by 1 PM on the day of the auction.
All lots submitted must have a minimum value of $20. All lots that do not receive a bid of $20 or more will be passed. If you plan to offer an auction lot with a reserve price, your reserve must be $50 or more. No lots with a reserve price of less than $50 will be accepted. PulpFest reserves the right to reject any auction material that is unlikely to meet our minimum bid or reserve price standards, as well as our content standards. The convention charges sellers 10% of the selling price for anything sold in the auction. Our auction rules are included with your registration packet.
On Sunday, July 29, the dealers’ room will be open to all members from 9 AM to 2 PM as our dealers pack up. If you are coming just for the day, please be aware that buying and selling opportunities may be limited. Admission to the convention for Sunday only will be $10, the cost of our annual program book, THE PULPSTER.
We are hoping that this year’s con will be our biggest and best yet. We have over sixty registered dealers and have been receiving member registrations every day, many from people who have never attended PulpFest before. If you’ve been thinking about attending, but have yet to pull the trigger, please book a room without delay. You can try calling 1-800-222-8733 to reach our host hotel. Perhaps there is an opening. Be sure to mention PulpFest in order to receive any special convention deals that may still be available.
The DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry is located at 910 Sheraton Drive in Mars, Pennsylvania, just outside the city of Pittsburgh. It is easy to find at the intersection of three major roadways: Interstate 79, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and State Route 19. Please click here for a map of the hotel’s location or click the map along the right side of our home page. There is ample free parking surrounding the hotel.
For those attendees who would like to ship their purchases to their homes, there is a FedEx Office Print & Ship Center about a half-mile away from the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. Located at 19095 Perry Highway in Mars, Pennsylvania, it is open from 8 AM to 8 PM on Saturdays and from 10 AM to 8 PM on Sundays.
If you have other questions, please refer to our FAQ page. Hopefully, we’ll have it covered for you there. If not, there is contact information on the page for the person to ask.
The entire PulpFest 2018 organizing committee – Mike Chomko, Jack and Sally Cullers, Bill Lampkin, Barry Traylor, and Chuck Welch – is looking forward to seeing all of you. Have a safe trip to Pittsburgh for “Summer’s GREAT Pulp Con.”
(Designed by PulpFest’s artistic director, William Lampkin, our PulpFest 2018 welcome banner — sponsored by AbeBooks.com — features the work of artist Mel Hunter. His painting was originally used as the cover to the May 1960 number of THE MAGAZINE OF FANTASY AND SCIENCE FICTION. Philip José Farmer’s “Open to Me, My Sister” was featured on the issue’s cover. We’ll be celebrating the centennial of Farmer’s birth at this year’s PulpFest.
Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale will be the Guest of Honor at PulpFest 2018. The author of over forty novels and numerous short stories, his work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has also written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in more than two dozen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, ten Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many other awards.
PulpFest 2018 is honored to host a rare gallery showing of original art by Mark Wheatley. Held in conjunction with the convention, the event will showcase Wheatley’s extensive array of illustrations for the new Christopher Paul Carey novel, SWORDS AGAINST THE MOON MEN. Inducted into The Overstreet Hall of Fame in July 2017, Mark Wheatley holds the Eisner, Inkpot, Mucker, Gem and Speakeasy awards and nominations for the Harvey award and the Ignatz award. He is also a longtime pulp collector. Our art show banner was designed by William Lampkin, using one of Wheatley’s illustrations for SWORDS AGAINST THE MOON MEN.
With war raging in Europe, Hannes Bok contributed a telling cover concerning man’s inhumanity to man to the November 1941 issue of WEIRD TALES. Not long thereafter, the United States entered The Second World War. PulpFest 2018 will be marking the centennial of the armistice that ended World War I. Also called “The War to End All Wars” PulpFest will salute the 100th anniversary of The Great War’s end by focusing on the so-called “war pulps” and the depiction of war in popular culture. Bill Lampkin used Bok’s cover art for our New Fictioneers banner. It will mark the place to meet the ten writers who we’ll be featuring at this year’s PulpFest.
Rudy Nappi’s recreation of his original paperback cover art for Bradford Scott’s BADLANDS BOSS — a Walt Slade adventure, originally published in 1956 by Pyramid Books — will be one of the lots offered at our Saturday Night Auction. The auction will begin at 10:05 PM on Saturday, July 28 in the programming room at PulpFest 2018.
The cover art for THE PULPSTER #27 was originally painted by Rudolph Belarski for April 1940 THRILLING ADVENTURES, published by Ned Pines’ Standard Magazines. Every member of PulpFest — including supporting members — will receive a complimentary copy of THE PULPSTER.)
