PulpFest is a top venue for writers and publishers to roll out their newest titles. Following are some of the new books that will be featured at this summer’s pulp con.
Author of the Edgar-nominated “Hector Lassiter” historical crime series, Craig McDonald is an award-winning novelist, journalist, and editor. At PulpFest 50, Craig debuted a new series chronicling the adventures of Zana O’Savin, a bronze-skinned, golden-eyed adventurer who is the cousin to the legendary Doc O’Savin. Zana and Doc are “tulpas,” ageless crimefighters made flesh and literally sprung from the pages of the great hero pulps. At this year’s PulpFest, Craig will be debuting the second book in O’Savin series, The Mothman Menace. Click here to watch a short film trailer for The Mothman Menace, the new Zana yarn, and here for a look at some of the reviews for this contemporary pulp pastiche done right.
Will Murray, celebrated for his pulp-inspired fiction and knowledge of the pulp era, is back with the sequel to Tarzan, Conqueror of Mars. This time, the Lord of the Jungle discovers that his homeland has been invaded by a military force — from Mars! Tarzan returns to the red planet seeking the help of his former ally and fellow Earthman, John Carter, Warlord of Mars. The hardcover edition of Tarzan: Back to Mars will also include a bonus story — a novelette entitled “The Adventure of the Vengeful Viscount” in which John Clayton, Lord Greystoke, hires London’s greatest consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes.
Stephen & Rosemary Nagy are the co-creators of the Poster Smash series, a space opera yarn about a power struggle between two hostile empires attempting to dominate the universe, published by Mechyu Publications. Hailing from Dunbar, Pennsylvania, Rosemary and Stephen will be selling and signing their books at this year’s convention. To learn more about these two creators and their exciting science fiction series, click the “About” button on the Mechyu Publications website.
Pick up your copy of the first hardcover publication of Philip José Farmer’s Jesus on Mars or the Deluxe Limited 50th Anniversary Edition of the science fiction Grand Master’s Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life at the Meteor House tables at this year’s convention. The new Meteor House edition of Farmer’s biography of the Man of Bronze will debut at this year’s PulpFest/FarmerCon with two cover variations. And be sure to join the Meteor House crew after hours in the hotel lounge to “Fraternize at FarmerCon,” at PulpFest 2023.
Lamont Award winner Ed Hulse of Murania Press will have the latest edition of Blood ‘n’ Thunder, the journal of adventure, mystery, and melodrama in American popular culture of the early 20th century. He’ll also have copies of his brand new book, Doubleday’s Crime Club: The Golden Age. Created in 1928, the Doubleday, Doran Crime Club gathered together many of the mystery genre’s most famous characters, including The Saint, Bulldog Drummond, Hildegarde Withers, and the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu.
Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle are the co-editors of The Men’s Adventure Library book series, published by New Texture. It collects classic stories and artwork from the men’s adventure magazines that were published from the 1950s through the 1970s. At PulpFest 2023, they’ll have copies of their latest books, The Naked and the Deadly — a collection of men’s adventure fiction and non-fiction by Lawrence Block — and Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants — an anthology of weird men’s adventure magazine yarns featuring work by Theodore Sturgeon, Manly Wade Wellman, Gardner Fox, Gil Paust, and others. This latest release in The Men’s Adventure Library series will be exclusively available at PulpFest ahead of its wide release.
Bob will also be selling copies of Men’s Adventure Quarterly, the magazine that he publishes with Bill Cunningham of Pulp 2.0 Press, as well as their recent release, The Art of Ron Lesser, Volume 1: Deadly Dames and Sexy Sirens.
World Fantasy Award winner Darrell Schweitzer has been publishing in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction fields since the early 1970s. In addition to his two-volume retrospective — The Best of Darrell Schweitzer — Darrell will have copies of The Children of Chorazin and Other Strange Denizens, a new Lovecraftian/weird short story collection recently released by Hippocampus Press, and Shadows Out of Time, an anthology of Lovecraftian “conflict with time” stories recently published in the UK by PS Publishing. Edited by Darrell, it features stories by Will Murray, Don Webb, Harry Turtledove, Nicholas Kaufman, Adrian Cole, and others.
Pittsburgh cartoonist Don Simpson — the creator of Megaton Man — will be debuting X-Amount of Comics: 1963 (WhenElse?!) Annual!, published by Fantagraphics. It’s the unceremonious, irreverent, and completely unauthorized 72-page King-Size Annual climax to Image Comics’ legendary 1963 by Alan Moore, Steve Bissette, and Rick Veitch. The master of superhero parody, Don promises cameos from the Big Bang Universe, refugees from In Pictopia, and even Megaton Man and friends! Written, drawn and hand-lettered in an authentic Old School manner, X-Amount is just enough to satisfy! A comic for the ages that may finish off the Silver Age once and for all! For sophisticated readers.
Virginia’s Joab Stieglitz is the author of the highly regarded Utgarda and Thule series. These stories appeal to pulp fans, H. P. Lovecraft readers, gamers, and horror movie fans. He’ll be premiering a new series at this year’s PulpFest, the first book in a four-book science fiction mystery series relating the adventures of Inspector Lazarus Balthazar Nodens and his squad of detectives in the Criminal Investigations Division. It’s called Designed for Slaughter. Visit Joab’s Amazon page to learn more about his books.
Please welcome Debra Reynolds of Sunbury Press to her first PulpFest. Located in Boiling Springs, PA, Sunbury Press is the publisher of Herbert Stover’s The Dominant Idea and Other Stories. Best remembered for his full-length historical novels published after World War II, Stover struggled as an upstart writer of mystery and detective pulp fiction during the 1920s and 30s. Rejected by publishers, Stover’s stories were stored away, only to be rediscovered in the 21st century. Stop by the Sunbury Press table at PulpFest 2023 to pick up a copy of Stover’s collection, edited by contemporary writer Debra Reynolds.
Another newcomer to PulpFest is Michael Tierney. He’ll be bringing his long-running series of Wild Stars comics and novels that debuted in 1984, nearly forty years ago. He’ll also be offering his newly released 4-volume book set of the Robert E. Howard Art Chronology, as well as his previous 4-volume set, the Edgar Rice Burroughs Art Chronology. Visit Michael’s Wild Stars website to learn more about him and his work and don’t forget to check out his weekly online comic strip, Beyond the Farthest Star.
Award-winning and celebrated artist Mark Wheatley and his wife Carol will have several new art prints for sale at PulpFest 2023. They’ll also be promoting the Kickstarter campaign for Mark’s new book, Nucleus X. The book will feature several portfolios of Mark’s art, including his Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs portfolios. Mark is a longtime fan and admirer of Burroughs and Howard, as well as the work of Philip José Farmer.
So what are you waiting for? Book a room for three nights and register now for PulpFest 2023. And don’t forget about FarmerCon XVIII and ERBFest 2023. They’re also taking place at the same location. That’s three great conventions for the price of one, only at the DoubleTree by Hilton Pittsburgh — Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania from August 3 – 6.
If you can’t find a room at the DoubleTree — it’s well-packed with PulpFest attendees — our hotel recommends the Hampton Inn, Hilton Garden Inn, or Home2 Suites. They’re all just a few miles away from our host hotel. Click here to learn more.
Our featured image, inspired by Robert E. Howard’s Conan story, “The Frost-Giant’s Daughter,” was excerpted from Mark Wheatley’s painting “Swords of the North.” Howard’s story was originally published in a somewhat different version as “Gods of the North” in The Fantasy Fan, March 1934. We’ll be saluting Conan and other great pulp heroes at PulpFest 2023.
Our lead image is Douglas C. Klauba’s front cover art for The Mothman Menace, the second volume in Craig McDonald’s exciting new series, The Adventures of Zana O’Savin.
Joe DeVito painted the cover art for Will Murray’s latest book in The Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs™ Series. Tarzan: Back to Mars was recently released by Adventures in Bronze.
Atomic Werewolves and Man-Eating Plants, edited by Robert Deis and Wyatt Doyle, will premier at this year’s PulpFest. Featuring cover art by Famous Monsters great, Basil Gogos, it will be published by New Texture. Gogos’ image was originally an interior illustration featured in the April 1966 issue of Adventure. The models in the picture are Steve Holland and Joan Stein.
Master of the superhero parody, Don Simpson brings us X-Amount of Comics: 1963 (WhenElse?!) Annual! It will soon be released by Fantagraphics.
After nearly forty years, Michael Tierney’s Wild Stars series comes to PulpFest. To learn more about this long-running and popular series visit Michael’s Wild Stars website or check out the series in Cirsova Magazine of Thrilling Adventure and Daring Suspense.
Leslie Silberberg is a writer and popular culture enthusiast who began posting on our website in 2022. She enjoys the science fiction pulps, particularly the work of such leading female writers as Leigh Brackett, Claire Winger Harris, Zenna Henderson, Judith Merril, C. L. Moore, Margaret St. Clair, Wilmar H. Shiras, Francis Stevens, and Leslie F. Stone. Many thanks to Ms. Silberberg for her contributions to pulpfest.com.
