There’s just one week left until the start of PulpFest 2024. The summertime destination for fans and collectors of popular fiction — both old and new — PulpFest seeks to honor the pulps by drawing attention to the many ways these throwaway magazines have inspired writers, artists, film directors, game designers, and other creators over the years.
PulpFest 2024 will begin on Thursday, August 1. The dealers’ room will be open to registered sellers to set up their displays from 9 am to 4:45 pm. We’ll also be allowing dealers who arrive early on Wednesday, July 31, to set up during the evening hours, if possible.
Early registration for all convention attendees will take place from 9 am to 4:45 pm outside the dealers’ room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania on Thursday, August 1.
Early-bird shopping will also be from 9 am to 4:45 pm on August 1 for PulpFest members who will be staying at the DoubleTree or for those who elect to purchase an early-bird membership if staying elsewhere.
Our full slate of programming for Thursday evening will get underway at 6:50 pm. The general public is welcome to attend our evening programming. Click our schedule button to learn more about our great programming.
If you have not yet booked a room for your stay, please call 1-724-776-6900 to reach the DoubleTree. Although the convention rate is no longer available, there may be some vacancies at the hotel. Other options include 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.
If anyone is looking for a room, we may be able to put you in touch with someone in need of a roommate. Click our “contact” button at the top of the site and send us a message.
Conveniently located at the intersection of three major roadways, the DoubleTree boasts a world-class restaurant in an open-air setting. There are many other restaurants nearby — some within walking distance — suitable for a variety of tastes. The more adventurous can discover plenty of dining, shopping, and nightlife just a short drive away in downtown Pittsburgh. The DoubleTree also offers a 24-hour fitness center, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, and a sauna.
You’ll find a map to the hotel and the surrounding area on the PulpFest website or click here.
Thanks so much to everyone who has reserved a room at our host hotel. By staying at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry, you’ve helped to ensure the convention’s success.
Our advance registrations end on Sunday, July 28, at 10 pm eastern time. So what are you waiting for? Click here to register for the convention.
In addition to our great dealers’ room and programming, we also have an auction lined up for Saturday night, August 3. For those not able to attend PulpFest 2024, we will be accepting online auction bids through 9:59 pm Eastern Time on Sunday, July 28.
If you are exhibiting any symptoms associated with COVID, please stay at home. You should not attend PulpFest. Isolate and avoid contact with others, rest, and drink fluids. Call your healthcare provider if your symptoms worsen.
Although we can’t force anyone, we hope that everyone who plans to attend PulpFest 2024 will be vaccinated against COVID. Although masked are optional, they are recommended. We have many older members who attend PulpFest. Please keep them in mind. Remember, we’re all in this together.
For your convenience, you’ll find below the complete schedule for the entire convention. You can also click here to link to our 2024 mobile schedule. To learn more about a particular programming event, click on its title link.
We look forward to seeing you next week at PulpFest 2024.
PulpFest 2024 Schedule
Wednesday, July 31, 2024
Dealers’ Room
5:30 pm – 9:30 pm — Dealers’ Room Set-Up (dealers & helpers allowed entry to set up)
Thursday, August 1, 2024
Dealers’ Room
9:00 am – 4:45 pm — Dealers’ Room Open for Set-Up & Early-Bird Shopping
Auction Preview
3:30 pm – 4:45 pm — Auction Preview (in Willow & Walnut Rooms)
Hotel Lounge
4:55 pm – 6:45 pm — Pizza at PulpFest (sponsored by PulpFest’s Generous Dealers)
Evening Programming
6:50 pm – 6:55 pm — Welcome to PulpFest — Remarks from Chairman Jack Cullers
6:55 pm – 7:40 pm — Black Mask: The Early Years (Walker Martin & Ed Hulse)
7:45 pm – 8:30 pm — Under Covers — The Spicy Detectives (Will Murray & John Wooley)
8:35 pm – 9:20 pm — Cloaks & Daggers — Spy Heroes of the Pulps (Tim King)
9:25 pm – 10:10 pm — The Spicy Artists (David Saunders)
10:15 pm – 11:00 pm — ERBFest — The Women of Edgar Rice Burroughs (Bernice Jones & Cathy Wilbanks)
11:05 pm – 12:40 am — ERBFest Film Showing — The Land That Time Forgot
11:05 pm – ?? am — Palaver at PulpFest — Socialize at Ember & Vine
Friday, August 2, 2024
Dealers’ Room
9:00 am – 4:45 pm — Dealers’ Room Open to All PulpFest Members
9:30 am – 4:30 pm — Submit Your Auction Items to PulpFest (Dealers’ Room)
Afternoon Programming
12:15 pm – 1:25 pm — We Are Doc Savage — A Documentary on Fandom (Ron Hill)
1:30 pm – 2:25 pm — Flinch! Fest (John C. Bruening & Jim Beard)
2:30 pm – 3:25 pm — ERBFest — The Universe According to Edgar Rice Burroughs (Christopher Paul Carey, Cathy Wilbanks, etc.)
Auction Preview
3:30 pm – 4:45 pm — Auction Preview (in Willow & Walnut Rooms)
Evening Programming
6:55 pm – 7:40 pm — The Spice Must Flow! Pulp Spice in Men’s Adventure Magazines (Bob Deis & Wyatt Doyle)
7:45 pm – 8:30 pm — Black Mask: The Popular Years (John Wooley, John McMahan, and John Gunnison)
8:35 pm – 9:20 pm — ERBFest — Pulp Paleontology (Mark Schultz and Mike Chomko)
9:25 pm – 10:10 pm — America’s Secret Service Ace (Tom Krabacher and Kurt Shoemaker)
10:15 pm – 11:00 pm — Bob Howard & the Spicy Adventurers (Morgan Holmes)
11:05 pm – 12:40 am — ERBFest Film Showing — The People That Time Forgot
11:05 pm – ?? am — Fraternize at FarmerCon — Socialize at Ember & Vine
Saturday, August 3, 2024
Dealers’ Room
9:00 am – 4:45 pm — Dealers’ Room Open to All PulpFest Members
9:00 am – 1:00 pm — Submit Your Auction Items to PulpFest (Dealers’ Room)
Afternoon Programming
12:15 pm – 1:25 pm — We Are Doc Savage — A Documentary on Fandom (Ron Hill)
1:30 pm – 2:25 pm — FarmerCon XIX — Secrets, Crossovers, and the Full Account (Win Scott Eckert, Sean Lee Levin, & Paul Spiteri, with Keith Howell)
2:30 pm – 3:25 pm — Burroughs, Farmer, & Pulp (Douglas C. Klauba, with Craig McDonald)
Auction Preview
3:30 pm – 4:45 pm — Auction Preview (in Willow & Walnut Rooms)
Burroughs Bibliophiles Special Event
5:30 pm – 8:30 pm — 2024 Dum-Dum Banquet (at Bravo! Italian Kitchen)
Evening Programming
6:55 pm – 7:15 pm — Looking Toward PulpFest 2025 (all members are welcome)
7:15 pm – 7:30 pm — 2024 Munsey Award Presentation
7:30 pm – 7:35 pm — Raffle Drawing
7:40 pm – 8:25 pm — The Hardboiled Fiction of Peter Paige (Peter Wolson, with John Wooley)
8:30 pm – 8:50 pm — Last-Minute Auction Preview (in Willow & Walnut Rooms)
9:00 pm – 11:30 pm — PulpFest 2024 Auction
11:35 pm – ?? am — ERBFest — Barsoomian Bull-Session — Socialize at Ember & Vine
Sunday, August 4, 2024
Dealers’ Room
9:00 am – 1:00 pm — Our Dealers Pack Up — All Are Welcome to Browse
Please note that our schedule is subject to change.
Our featured image is excerpted from John Newton Howitt’s cover art for the October 1934 issue of Operator #5, while our lead image was adapted by William Lampkin from H. J. Ward’s cover for the October 1935 issue of Spicy Detective Stories. We’ll be saluting the 90th anniversary of both pulp magazines and more at PulpFest 2024.
Frank R. Paul, the “grandfather of science-fiction art,” painted the cover for the program book of the 13th World Science Fiction Convention — Clevention — held on September 2 – 5, 1955 at the Manger Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. The paperbound convention book was the first ever to feature a color cover. Although the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry is not quite as futuristic as Paul’s illustration, our host hotel was completely renovated in 2016.
The first and only issue of Medical Horrors was published in late 1931 with a cover date of January 1932. Sold by Harold Hersey’s Green Band Publishing Corp. it ran for a single issue. A mix of fiction and non-fiction, it featured such articles and stories as “The Million Dollar Baby Farm,” “Chloroformed” and “Doctor A. W. Waite: Satan’s Personal Representative.” What gave Hersey the idea that a magazine entitled Medical Horrors could be successful in a field that partially relied on drugstores for distribution is beyond our ken. He was, however, a publisher who often thought outside the box.
PulpFest advertising director William Lampkin adapted our “Black Mask: The Early Years” poster from Fred Craft’s cover for the December 1927 issue of the pulp magazine.
New Texture’s Wyatt Doyle adapted our men’s adventure poster from Samson Pollen’s interior illustration for Emile C. Schurmacher’s “The Girl from Singapore,” featured in the September 1957 issue of Male.
Our final image was adapted by William Lampkin from Rafael DeSoto’s cover for the February 1942 issue of Black Mask.
And don’t forget to visit the PulpFest YouTube Channel for our great videos on Black Mask, Spicy Detective Stories, and The Great Pulp Heroes, including The Avenger.
Of course, while you’re at the PulpFest Channel, please remember to join hundreds of others and subscribe to our channel.
