By the early 1930s, civic organizations were pressuring the publishers and distributors of magazines that they considered “obscene” to clean up their acts. Frank Armer and Harry Donenfeld — known for Pep Stories and other girlie periodicals — addressed the matter by combining sex with adventure, detective, mystery, and western fiction. Calling themselves Culture Publications, the two launched Spicy Detective Stories in early 1934.
Not only did the new pulp help reduce the pressure being applied to the publisher, but it also proved a hit. Sex sells!
Before long, Donenfeld and Armer began working on other titles along the same line. Spicy-Adventure Stories came first, followed by Spicy Mystery Stories. Their fourth title, Spicy Western Stories, would wait until 1936 to debut.
The first newsstand issue of Spicy-Adventure Stories — dated November 1934 and adorned with a cover by H. J. Ward — carried several stories by Spicy Detective star Robert Leslie Bellem and his cohorts in snappiness and spice, E. Hoffmann Price and Norman Daniels. They would be joined in later issues by such Spicy regulars as Wyatt Blassingame, Don Cameron, Hugh B. Cave (writing as Justin Case), Day Keene, Edwin Truett Long, James P. Olsen, Victor Rousseau, and others. Robert E. Howard signed on in 1936, penning a handful of “Wild Bill Clanton” stories while hiding behind the name of Sam Walser. The magazine would reprint three of these stories in 1942, masked by new titles and three new pen names.
We hope you’ll join PulpFest 2024 on Friday, August 2, at 10:15 pm as we welcome Morgan Holmes to our stage for “Bob Howard & the Spicy Adventurers,” a look at the writers and stories found in the
The former official editor of the Robert E. Howard United Press Association, Morgan was nominated in 2016 for a Hugo Award as best fan writer. He has been published in Blood ‘n’ Thunder, The Cimmerian, The Dark Man, REH: Two-Gun Raconteur, The Robert E. Howard Companion, and other publications. His work has also appeared at Black Gate, Castalia House, and other websites. Dr. Holmes — who is a podiatrist — has presented at PulpFest before, most recently in 2023 when he explored “Sword and Sorcery in ‘The Unique Magazine.’”
PulpFest 2024 begins on August 1 and runs through August 4 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. We’ll be celebrating “Spice, Spies, Shaw, and More” at this year’s convention.
The general public is welcome to attend our evening programming events free of charge. To learn more about our programming, please click the Schedule button at the top of this page.
For those who also want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the registration button at the top of this page.
And don’t forget to book a room. The DoubleTree is sold out, but there are other hotels nearby.
If you want to sell at this year’s PulpFest, our wall tables are sold out. Island tables are still available, but they won’t last long. Register soon!
Our featured image is excerpted from Joseph Szokoli’s cover for the April 1946 issue of Speed Adventure Stories, the final issue of the retitled Spicy-Adventure Stories. When H. J. Ward — the regular cover artist for the spicy pulps — unexpectedly passed away in 1945, Szokoli “provided continuity to the cover designs by creating dozens of covers that resemble Ward’s sensational subjects and compositions.” The artist was a master of airbrush technique.
Our lead image was adapted by William Lampkin from H. J. Ward’s cover art for the April 1937 issue of Spicy-Adventure Stories. The first issue of Spicy-Adventure Stories — dated November 1934 — also featured a cover by Ward.
Robert E. Howard, best known for his stories of Conan of Cimmeria, joined the Spicy-Adventure writers stable near the end of his brief life. His first Wild-Bill Clanton story, “She Devil” appeared in the April 1936 number, with cover art by H. J. Ward.
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