PulpFest is not only lauded for its fine programming but also for its very substantial dealers’ room.
Beginning on Thursday, August 3, the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry will be home to thousands of collectible pulp magazines and digests, vintage paperbacks, first-edition hardcovers and series books, original art, genre fiction, B-movies and serials, collectible comic books, and much more.
What dealers are we expecting at PulpFest 2023? For the next five days, we’ll be profiling our dealers, telling you a little bit about each of them so you get to know them.
John and Maureen Gunnison of Adventure House will be offering their usual extensive stock of pulp magazines as well as High Adventure, G-8 and His Battle Aces, and the many pulp replicas and collections they have published under the Adventure House banner. John will also be one of our auctioneers during this year’s PulpFest auction, taking place on Saturday, August 5. To learn more about 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. Chris and David Kalb have scoured hundreds of issues of titles like Dare-Devil Aces, Battle Birds, Flying Aces, and other air pulps to present to a modern audience the most thrilling air stories featuring the most unforgettable forgotten heroes — The Black Falcon, Captain Philip Strange, The Three Mosquitoes, and others! You can learn more by visiting their website at ageofaces.net. Chris Kalb is one of our nominees for the 2023 Munsey Award. He’ll also be one of our presenters on The Spider, Master of Men!
Jim & Walter Albert are brothers from Arkansas and Pennsylvania respectively. They’ve been collecting for years and selling at Pulpcon and PulpFest for a long time. 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.
Chicago’s Mark Alvarado, a longtime collector of books and pulp magazines, will once again be exhibiting at PulpFest. Although we don’t know yet what he’ll have at this year’s convention, he usually brings something that’s very exciting. He’ll be sharing a table with Steven Spilger. Please welcome Mark back to yet another summertime pulp con!
A familiar face at PulpFest, Jim Beard is co-publisher (with John Bruening) of Flinch! Books. He’s also the publisher of Becky Books, a small press that he founded in 2022. Becky Books publishes a mix of fiction and nonfiction books, including essay collections on the Batman TV series and Dark Shadows. Visit the Becky Books Facebook page to learn more.
Please welcome Frank J Bennett to his first PulpFest. Frank is an author on matters of the paranormal. A well-respected voice in the paranormal field, he has appeared on many podcasts and radio programs and has spoken at hundreds of live events across the United States. He is honored to join the PulpFest crew. If you would like to learn more about Frank’s books, you can visit his Amazon page.
Steve Ericson and Books from the Crypt have been very supportive of PulpFest over the years. A family-owned business that has been selling collectible science fiction, fantasy, horror, and mystery magazines, paperbacks, and first editions for over 25 years, Books from the Crypt will have many items at PulpFest 2023 that are not available through their website.
PulpFest 2023 is glad to have Michael Brenner of Brenner’s Collectable Books back at our convention. Michael specializes in science fiction and mystery books, signed first editions, vintage paperbacks, books into film, and more. He has been buying, selling, and passionately collecting books for over thirty years and is a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA.
Please welcome back Brick Pickle Media, a bookseller and communications firm located in Chaska, Minnesota. It’s owned and operated by Jonathan Sweet, a professional writer and editor. Jonathan is the author of the Red Jackal new pulp series (twice nominated for Pulp Factory awards) and several other books. Besides his own titles, Jonathan sells a wide variety of books, specializing in first editions and signed books, especially from small presses. In addition to a selection of his Brick Pickle Pulps, he will also have old paperbacks, pulp reprints, and other pulp-related items. Joining him will be David Sweet.
The Burroughs Bibliophiles is a nonprofit literary society devoted to studying and promoting interest in the works, creations, and life of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The members of the organization will be represented at this year’s PulpFest by Treasurer Henry G. Franke III, who also serves as the editor of The Burroughs Bulletin and The Gridley Wave, and Chairman Gary Buckingham, the author of Tarzan: Untamed Frontiers and Tarzan and the Lion of Judah. To learn more about the Burroughs Bibliophiles, visit burroughsbibliophiles.com/ or email Henry at BurroughsBibliophiles@gmail.
As a special offer to members of PulpFest 2023, if you join the Burroughs Bibliophiles as a new member, a free issue of The Burroughs Bulletin will be added to your membership. See Henry Franke or Gary Buckingham at their dealer’s table to join.
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.
Our 2010 Munsey Award winner, Mike Chomko, will be representing Stark House Press and Steeger Books at PulpFest 2023. He’ll have various titles from the Stark House catalog, plus the latest offerings from Steeger Books, including new volumes in their Black Mask Library and a Gadget Man collection, written by Lester Dent. He’ll also have a selection of other books and periodicals, including back issues of The Pulpster and books by crime-writer Gary Phillips, one of our writer guests. To learn more about the many books that he carries, please visit the Mike Chomko Books website and download a copy of his latest catalog. Mike is also the marketing and programming director for PulpFest.
In addition to selling, Mike will also be accepting PulpFest 2023 members’ auction consignments at his dealer tables. You can submit your consignments on Friday, August 4, from 9:30 am until 4:30 pm, and Saturday, August 5, from 9:30 am until 1:30 pm. Look for the PulpFest auction banner at Mike Chomko’s dealer tables. If you have any questions, you can reach Mike via email at mike@pulplfest.com.
Please welcome Edgar Rice Burroughs fan and collector Mike Conran to his first PulpFest as a dealer. A resident of Michigan, Mike has been collecting since the early 1960s. A charter member of the ERB-APA, Mike received the prestigious Edgar Rice Burroughs Lifetime Achievement Award in 1991. To learn more about Mike, please read his biography on Bill and Sue-On Hillman’s ERBzine.
PulpFest Chairman Jack Cullers is the person to see if you’re looking for pulps, digests, and out-of-print paperbacks, collectible fanzines, pulp reprints, and hardbound fiction and non-fiction. Find your way to Jack’s table and you’ll be treated to a wide variety of materials at very reasonable prices. You may just come across something you’ve been questing after for years. Jack and his wife Sally were the winners of our Rusty Award in 2012.
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 over fifty years. Out of East Lansing, Michigan, Ray has been selling at PulpFest — and Pulpcon before it — for decades. We appreciate his long support. Ray is one of the founders and organizers of the Michigan Antiquarian Book & Paper Show, the Midwest’s largest book and paper show.
Dearly Departed Books of Alliance, Ohio is a brick & mortar shop open by chance or appointment. 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, first editions, pulp magazines, and related ephemera. This year, they’ll be selling pulps, paperbacks, hardbound first editions, and more. The Edwards have also consigned 81 lots of material to this year’s auction. Please click our auction button to see what they’ll be offering.
If you would like to register as a dealer at this year’s PulpFest, we’ve run out of tables. Please contact Jack Cullers to be added to our waiting list. You can reach him at jack@pulpfest.com.
To wander through our dealers’ room, click the Registration button at the top of this page to join PulpFest. And don’t forget to book a room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh — Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. Click our link. You can also reserve a room by calling 800.222.8733 or 724.776.6900. Be sure to mention PulpFest to get the special convention rate. Currently, there are only a few rooms left at the convention rate. Click here for other options.
We’ll be profiling more of our PulpFest 2023 dealers through Friday, July 14. Please visit our site on Tuesday for our next segment.
Our featured image is excerpted from Frank Frazetta’s cover art for the Lancer Books edition of Conan the Usurper, first released in 1967. Undoubtedly, it was Frazetta’s stunning cover artwork for the Lancer Books editions that initially sold the character to the readers of the late twentieth century. However, it was Howard’s inspired and expressive writing that kept them clamoring for more.
Our lead image was adapted by PulpFest advertising director William Lampkin from Renato Casaro’s poster art for John Milius‘ 1982 movie, Conan the Barbarian.
We hope you’ll join PulpFest 2023 on Thursday, August 3, at 9:45 pm for “Conan the Multimedia Barbarian,” a look at Conan in the movies, comics, and throughout popular culture. As part of our celebration of the 90th anniversary of the great pulp heroes, our presentation will feature Ohio-based writer, editor, and publisher Jim Beard, profiled above.
Steve Erickson’s Books from the Crypt has a number of issues of Weird Tales available for sale. We’ll be celebrating the centennial of “The Unique Magazine” at this year’s PulpFest. Pictured above is the November 1949 issue, with cover by Matt Fox.
The PulpFest auction banner was adapted by William Lampkin from Rafael DeSoto’s cover art for the January 1934 issue of Standard’s The Phantom Detective.
