So what’s this PulpFest that has so many people talking? With more than 3,800 likes on Facebook, over 1,600 followers on Instagram, and more than 1,300 on Twitter, it certainly has been generating a lot of excitement.
PulpFest is named for pulp magazines — fiction periodicals named after the wood-pulp paper on which they were printed. Frank A. Munsey pioneered the format in 1896 with The Argosy. Stories like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan and the Apes” and Max Brand’s “Destry Rides Again” really got things moving.
The pulps began to flourish following the introduction of specialized magazines such as Detective Story and Western Story Magazine. Publishing legends Black Mask, Weird Tales, and Amazing Stories debuted during the 1920s. The early thirties introduced the hero pulps, while science fiction exploded as the world went to war in 1939.
By 1955, the pulps had largely disappeared. Although displaced by paperback books, comics, radio, television, movies, and more, the rough-paper periodicals had a profound effect on popular culture across the globe. They inspired everything from Star Wars and Jurassic Park to Batman and Spider-Man. The fiction and art of the pulps reverberated through films, comics, paperbacks, television, and even anime and role-playing games.
PulpFest 50 will celebrate our fiftieth summertime pulp con, the centennial of pulp magazine and comic book publisher Fiction House, and the ninetieth anniversary of Popular Publications’ “Dime” magazines. We’ll also be joined by FarmerCon XVII, celebrating the life and times of Philip José Farmer, longtime pulp fan and Grand Master of Science Fiction.
We’ll start previewing all of the great programming planned for PulpFest 50 in our posts here at pulpfest.com, beginning May 30.
But our programming is only the beginning! The PulpFest 50 dealers’ room will feature tens of thousands of pulp magazines, vintage paperbacks, digests, genre books, original art, first edition hardcovers, series books, reference books, men’s adventure and true crime magazines, dime novels and story papers, Big Little Books, B-Movies, serials and related paper collectibles, old-time radio shows, and collectible comic books and newspaper adventure strips. We’ll also be hosting author, artist, and publisher events during the convention.
Expect all this and more at PulpFest 50. We hope you’ll join us from August 4 – 7 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. You can become a member of the convention by clicking the Registration button on our website. If you need lodging, you can also book a room on our site.
Published by the Frank A. Munsey Company, the October 1912 issue of The All-Story featured Edgar Rice Burroughs’ celebrated novel “Tarzan of the Apes,” published in its entirety. Clinton Pettee painted the front cover art for the magazine.
Burroughs’ Tarzan is perhaps the most famous character to emerge from the pulps. Others include Zorro, Conan the Barbarian, Dr. Kildare, The Shadow, Buck Rogers, Sam Spade, Doc Savage, and Cthulhu. Their stories have inspired countless creators the world over!
