PulpFest is for lovers … of pop culture. It’s the convention for fans of popular culture and genre fiction both old and new. It celebrates the many ways that pulp magazines have inspired writers, artists, film directors, game designers, and other creators over the years.
So what’s your taste? Heroic warriors and omnipotent wizards? Mysteries that leave you breathless? Awe-inspiring adventures inside the earth or beyond the farthest star? Finding true love when you least expect it? They all have their roots in the pulps.
While the convention’s organizing committee formulates its programming schedule for PulpFest 50, take a gander at what we offered our members at our 2021 gathering.
The Summer 2021 edition of PulpFest will celebrate the anniversaries of two trend-setting Street & Smith rough-paper magazines. Both LOVE STORY and THE SHADOW MAGAZINE played significant roles in the evolution of American popular culture and genre fiction.
Debuting as a quarterly in the spring of 1921, Street & Smith’s LOVE STORY MAGAZINE would become the bestselling pulp magazine of all time. With its tremendous success, almost every pulp magazine publisher would attempt to break into the “love pulp” field. None would ever come close to topping LOVE STORY.
THE SHADOW, A DETECTIVE MAGAZINE — the first pulp primarily devoted to a single character — debuted in early 1931. A throwaway idea intended to establish a trademark on the mysterious narrator of THE DETECTIVE STORY HOUR radio show, it was handed over to a 33-year-old ghostwriter and newspaper reporter. Thanks to the talent and imagination of Walter B. Gibson, The Shadow became an instant hit. The character’s appeal inspired Doc Savage, The Spider, Batman, and other pop culture heroes.
PulpFest 2021 will have panels and presentations on these topics and more. We hope you’ll join us for “Love in the Shadows,” from August 19 – 22, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, PA.
PulpFest 2021 Schedule
Thursday, August 19
Dealers’ Room
12:00 – 5:00 PM — Dealers’ Room Set-Up
1:00 – 5:00 PM — Member Registration & Early-Bird Shopping for PulpFest Members Staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry
Hotel Lounge
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM — Pizza at PulpFest (Sponsored by Our Generous PulpFest Dealers)
Evening Programming
7:10 – 7:15 PM — Welcome to PulpFest (Chairman Jack Cullers)
7:15 – 8:05 PM — ERBFest 2021 — The Amazing, Thrilling, and Fantastic Edgar Rice Burroughs (Henry G. Franke III)
8:10 – 9:00 PM — Shadow Artists — Inside and Out (Chet Williamson, for David Saunders)
9:05 – 9:55 PM — Love on the Racks (Michelle Nolan)
10:00 – 10:50 PM — The Shadow — Multimedia Hero (Jim Beard)
11:15 PM – 1:00 AM — The Shadow on the Silver Screen I — The Shadow Detective Stories Short Feature A BURGLAR TO THE RESCUE and THE SHADOW STRIKES starring Rod La Rocque
Friday, August 20
Dealers’ Room
9:00 AM – 10:00 AM — Early Registration and Dealers’ Room Set-Up
10:00 AM – 4:45 PM — Dealers’ Room Open to All PulpFest Members
Author Readings
1:00 – 1:25 PM — Christopher Paul Carey
1:30 – 1:55 PM — Craig McDonald
2:00 – 2:25 PM — Wayne Carey
2:30 – 2:55 PM — Darrell Schweitzer
Afternoon Programming
3:00 – 3:30 PM — ERBFest 2021 — Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Unfinished Tales — Mars, Venus, Poloda, and Tarzan’s Africa (Henry G. Franke III)
3:35 – 3:55 PM — ERBFest 2021 — Beyond the Farthest Star: A Classic Science Fiction Novel Restored (Christopher Paul Carey & Cathy Mann Wilbanks, with Henry G. Franke III moderating)
4:00 – 4:45 PM — ERBFest 2021 — The News from Tarzana: Thrilling Updates from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. (Christopher Paul Carey & Cathy Mann Wilbanks)
Hotel Lounge
5:00 PM – 7:00 PM — Dinner at the DoubleTree (all PulpFest members are welcome)
Evening Programming
7:00 – 7:30 PM — Annual PulpFest Business Meeting (all are welcome)
7:35 – 7:50 PM — 2021 Munsey Award Presentation (presented by William Lampkin)
7:55 – 8:45 PM — The Queen and Her Court — Great Women Pulp Editors (Laurie Powers)
8:50 – 9:40 PM — Selling the Shadow (Dwight Fuhro & Chris Kalb, with William Lampkin moderating)
9:45 – 10:35 PM — The Weird Tales of Margaret Brundage (Doug Ellis)
10:40 – 11:10 PM — Jen Lightfoot and Her Mad Auto Dash (Jennifer DiGiacomo)
11:15 PM – 1:00 AM — The Shadow on the Silver Screen II — The Shadow Detective Stories Short Feature HOUSE OF MYSTERY and INTERNATIONAL CRIME starring Rod La Rocque
Saturday, August 21
Dealers’ Room
10:00 AM – 4:45 PM — Dealers’ Room Open to All PulpFest Members
Author Readings
1:00 – 1:25 PM — Christopher Ryan
1:30 – 1:55 PM — Jonathan Weischel
2:00 – 2:25 PM — Evan Witmer
2:30 – 2:55 PM — William Patrick Maynard
Afternoon Programming
3:00 – 3:50 PM — The Wild Adventures of Will Murray — A PulpFest Profile (an interview with Laurie Powers and William Patrick Maynard)
4:00 – 4:45 PM — In the Shadow of Houdini (Tim King)
3:45 – 4:45 PM — PulpFest Member Auction Preview (in auction set-up rooms)
Evening Programming
7:00 – 7:50 PM — Eva Lynd — Countess, Actress, Covergirl (Bob Deis & Wyatt Doyle moderating)
7:55 – 8:45 PM — Walter B. Gibson and His Shadows (Will Murray and Jim Steranko, with Ed Hulse moderating)
8:50 – 9:20 PM — ERBFest 2021 — Introducing Pulp’s Legacy of Adventure to a Younger Generation (Daniel Egitto, Hanna Mark, Teddi Norrell, Victoria Wang, and Daniel Zhu, with Madeleine “Mac” Gagné moderating)
9:30 – 11:00 PM — PulpFest Member Auction
11:15 PM – 1:00 AM — The Shadow on the Silver Screen III — The Shadow Detective Stories Short Feature THE CIRCUS SHOW-UP and THE INVISIBLE AVENGER starring Richard Derr
Hotel Lounge
11:00 PM – ?? — ERBFest 2021 — A Barsoomian Bull Session (Hosted by Henry G. Franke III)
Sunday, August 22
Dealers’ Room
9:00 AM – 2:00 PM — Dealers’ Room Open for Dealer Tear-Down and Last Minute Shopping
Please note that the schedule above is subject to change. To learn more about each presentation, click on the link that is embedded in each title.
(Although the lovely young lady in Modest Stein’s cover painting for the May 23, 1931 issue of LOVE STORY MAGAZINE is looking forward to PulpFest, we’re not sure if “darling” feels the same way. Perhaps we’ll learn his answer in a future visit.)
