PulpFest is not only lauded for its 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 two days, we’ll be profiling our dealers, telling you a little bit about each of them.
Lamont Award winner Ed Hulse of Murania Press is the editor and publisher of the much-admired journal, Blood ‘n’ Thunder, and many other publications. He’ll have the 2023 edition of BNT at this year’s PulpFest, plus copies of his latest book, Doubleday’s Crime Club: The Golden Age. In addition to his Murania Press books, Ed will be selling a large selection of pulps from a collection he’s helping to liquidate. He promises many seldom-seen items. Ed will be appearing on our Friday afternoon panel, “It’s a Jungle Out There.” He’ll be joined by the editor of The Burroughs Bulletin, Henry G. Franke III, in a discussion of jungle adventures found in the pulps. It’s part of our 2023 ERBFest, celebrating the centennial of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. and the author’s classic trilogy, “The Moon Maid.”
The author of over seventy novels and assorted books, Will Murray will be selling copies from his various “The All-New Wild Adventures of . . .” series including his latest book, The Wild Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Volume Two. Expect to see some of Will’s non-fiction books, including Dark Avenger: The Strange Saga of The Shadow and Wordslingers: An Epitaph for the Western. Of course, he’ll be glad to sign your purchases. One of the leading scholars of pulp history, Will be joining Chris Kalb and writer Gary Phillips on Thursday, August 3, for “The Spider, Master of Men!” He’ll also be part of our panel, “Doc Savage and His Offspring,” moderated by Jennifer DiGiacomo.
Phil Nelson is from Waverly, Ohio. He will be bringing an assortment of pulp magazines and new-condition Girasol Collectables pulp replicas. This very personable dealer will also have vintage paperbacks, comic books, and other collectibles. He’s a fan of detective and adventure fiction and has been attending both Pulpcon and PulpFest for many years.
One of our very first supporters when PulpFest came to Mars, Pennsylvania was Todd McDevitt of New Dimension Comics. Owned by Todd since 1986, New Dimension has six stores in the Pittsburgh region, including one just 2.5 miles away from Pulpfest. Please visit the store while you’re in town. It’s at 20550 Route 19, Cranberry Township, PA 16066. Todd will be sharing his space with Rick Santman, offering our members some vintage and exciting treats. They’ve rented ten island tables at PulpFest 2023.
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. They’ll be selling copies of their books along with Men’s Adventure Quarterly, the magazine that Bob publishes with Bill Cunningham of Pulp 2.0 Press. For more information, please visit Bob’s Men’s Adventure Magazines blog at MensPulpMags.com and New Texture’s website, NewTexture.com. Bob and Wyatt will also be discussing “Those Weird Men’s Adventure Magazines” on Friday evening, August 4, at PulpFest 2023.
Siblings Xene and TED Otting are excited to bring their deep love for speculative fiction in all its forms to PulpFest for the first time this year! Both avid collectors of the unique and unusual, they were inspired to create Get Weird! Sci-Fi, an on-demand, pulp-fiction-inspired boutique. In addition to their collection of late-era pulps, drop by their table to peruse their selection of sci-fi periodicals, books, fanzines, retro-collectibles, and of course Xene and TED’s specialty — pulp-inspired artworks.
Mike Parsons has been collecting detective and science fiction since the early 1970s. Back then, while attending Michigan State, he worked for Ray Walsh at the Curious Book Shop. Now retired, he has a lot of duplicates and is thinning out his collection. A regular at the Windy City Pulp and Paperback Convention, Mike will have hardcover books, paperbacks, comics, some art, and a few pulps at this year’s PulpFest. A regular attendee of Pulpcon during the 1970s and 80s, please welcome back Mike Parsons to PulpFest.
From the 1950s to the 1990s, the late Samson Pollen created top-notch illustration artwork for various types of periodicals and paperback books, as well as fine art paintings for galleries and commissions. However, most of his artwork — literally hundreds of paintings — was used as interior illustrations for stories in the Atlas/Diamond group of men’s adventure magazines published by Martin Goodman’s Magazine Management Company. PulpFest 2023 is very pleased to announce that the artist’s widow, Jacqueline Pollen, will be exhibiting a number of her late husband’s illustrations in our dealers’ room. She will also be offering several original works and prints in this year’s auction. Click here to check them out.
A resident of Virginia, Craig Poole has been attending pulp conventions for many years. He’ll be exhibiting a number of high-end illustrations in our PulpFest 2023 dealers’ room. Craig will have a mix of genres, but science fiction will be the primary focus.
Author Laurie Powers, the granddaughter of pulp author Paul S. Powers, will be selling copies of his memoir, Pulp Writer, as well as his collections Hidden Ghosts and Riding the Pulp Trail, both published by Steeger Books. Laurie won the annual Munsey Award in 2016 for her seminal work on the history of Love Story Magazine and its famous editor, Daisy Bacon. She will be selling copies of her acclaimed biography of Bacon, Queen of the Pulps: The Reign of Daisy Bacon and Love Story Magazine. Along with these books, Laurie will be selling many books relating to the history of the pulps, books, and ephemera from her grandfather’s estate, and a good number of pulp magazines. Laurie has been on several PulpFest panels — including the “Granddaughters of the Pulps” panel in 2011 — and has presented on the history of romance magazines and the pulp industry’s female editors.
Garyn and Virginia Roberts from Wisconsin will be bringing lots of good, fresh old treasures at bargain prices. They’ll have science fiction, mystery, and western pulps, young adult series books, Big Little Books, Golden and Silver Age comic books, pulp replicas, hardcovers, paperbacks, and more. Garyn is the winner of our 2013 Munsey Award. A leading pop culture historian, Garyn be joining Christopher Paul Carey and Henry G Franke III for our presentation saluting “100 Years of The Moon Maid.” It’s part of our 2023 edition of ERBFest.
A full-time proprietor of an antique toy shop by day and a mystery mavin by night, Joseph Saine returns to PulpFest for another go-round. Hailing from northwest Ohio, among Joe’s treasures will be a variety of pulps, a large collection of quality vintage paperbacks, Big Little Books, and more. A professional auctioneer, Joe is one of the leading dealers of antique toys and toy soldiers in the Midwest. He will be helping us with our annual Saturday night auction. This year’s auction will feature the Carl Joecks Estate, the Dearly Departed Auction Books Consignment, plus submissions from members of PulpFest. Prepare to be entertained by Joe Saine at the microphone.
Rick Santman will be joining dealer Todd McDevitt of New Dimensions Comics at this year’s PulpFest. He’ll be selling many trays of science fiction paperbacks, science fiction hardcovers, a good assortment of pulps, vintage comics, some Big Little Books, and a bit of “cheesecake.” Rick’s helper, Jeff Lilly, will have vintage magazines from the 1940s.
Artist, pulp art historian, and author David Saunders is returning to PulpFest as a dealer. The creator of the Munsey Award and a regular presenter at PulpFest, David will be exploring the life and work of artist J. Allen St. John on Friday, August 4. We hope you’ll join us for “J. Allen St. John — Master of Fantasy Art.” In 2016, David was awarded a special Lamont Award, named in tribute to the long-running Pulpcon, the predecessor of PulpFest.
World Fantasy Award winner Darrell Schweitzer has been publishing in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction fields since the early 1970s. He will be selling copies of his two-volume retrospective, The Best of Darrell Schweitzer, The Children of Chorazin and Other Strange Denizens — a new Lovecraftian/weird short story collection — The Robert E. Howard Reader, Living with the Dead — a Shirley Jackson Award finalist — and anthologies that he has edited, including The Mountains of Madness Revealed and Shadows Out of Time. Darrell will also have magazines such as Interzone, Sherlock Holmes Mystery Magzine, Weirdbook, and back issues of Weird Tales (a magazine that he co-edited for 19 years). Finally, he will have a selection of Wildside Press titles, including their Robert E. Howard volumes and pulp facsimile reprints, as well as used hardcover and paperback books. Along with John Betancourt, Darrell will be part of our “Weird Editors” panel, moderated by Tony Davis.
Pittsburgh’s Don Simpson is the cartoonist/creator of the comic books Megaton Man, Border Worlds, and Bizarre Heroes. He’s also the creator of several international underground comix sensations, published under the pseudonym Anton Drek, and the author of the young adult maxi-series, Ms. Megaton Man. Don’s newest work is X-Amount of Comics: 1963 (WhenElse?!) Annual! and collections of Megaton Man, both debuting this summer from Fantagraphics. At PulpFest 2023, he’ll have prints and original art and will be accepting pen and ink commissions. He’ll even draw in your sketchbook if you have one! Don will be moderating our panel, “Illustrating Conan for the Commercial Market,” featuring award-winning artists Mark Schultz and Mark Wheatley.
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. 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. 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 tomorrow for our final segment.
Our featured image is excerpted from T. Harris’s cover art for the March 1957 issue of Man’s Conquest, illustrating the story, “Attack of the Flying Snakes.” As part of our celebration of the centennial of Weird Tales, Bob Deis and Wyatt Doyle will explore cryptozoology, killer creatures, and other strange adventures in the men’s adventure magazines. They’ll touch on Sasquatch, the Loch Ness Monster, supernatural phenomena, man-eating ants, fish with human hands, cannibal crabs, blood-mad bats, and the red tide of death in an entertaining discussion of creature features and other weird phenomena in the men’s adventure magazines.
Our lead image was adapted by PulpFest advertising director William Lampkin from Clarence Doore’s cover art for the November 1955 issue of True Weird. A short-lived magazine published by Weider Periodicals, True Weird featured sensationalized accounts of myths, legends, and stories.
Rafael DeSoto painted the cover art for the October 1939 issue of The Spider, published by Popular Publications. We’ll be celebrating the 90th anniversary of The Spider and other great pulp heroes at PulpFest 2023. We hope you’ll join us for “Chilling Sports and Pulp Heroes” at this summer’s convention.
In 1988, Weird Tales was revived by George H. Scithers, Darrell Schweitzer, and John Gregory Betancourt. Since then, it has, more or less, been published continuously. The 366th issue was released earlier this year, marking the magazine’s 100th anniversary. Pictured above is the Fall 2000 issue, featuring cover art by Jeff Remmer.
