PulpFest is not only lauded for its fine programming but also for its large dealers’ room.
Beginning on Thursday, August 7, 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 2025? In our posts this week, we’ll be profiling our dealers, telling you a little bit about each of them.
The Shadowed Circle launched in 2021 and is the only international publication to focus on The Shadow in pulp novels, comic books, radio episodes, film & television, and various entertainment memorabilia. Each issue features articles, illustrations, interviews, spotlights, reviews, and more. In addition to The Shadowed Circle, the organization also publishes books about The Shadow, including The Shadowed Circle Compendium and the 50th anniversary edition of Frank Eisgruber’s Gangland’s Doom — The Shadow of the Pulps. Consulting Editor, Tim King will be manning their table at PulpFest, right next to legendary Shadowed Circle contributor Will Murray. Tim will also be discussing the “Masters of Villainy” at PulpFest on Thursday evening, August 7.
Please welcome Lauren Stump, the curator of the Korshak Collection and the Vinson Family Collection. She will be attending her first PulpFest, representing Shasta/Phoenix Art. A publisher of art books featuring well-known and lesser-known fantasy and science fiction illustrators, Shasta/Phoenix also offers illustration artwork for sale, and valuation and brokering services. The company has represented notable collections and continues to serve as a trusted resource for enthusiasts of imaginative literature and art. Please welcome Lauren and Shasta/Phoenix Art to our gathering.
Doug Sims — who owns Heroes and Games, a comic book and collectible games store located at the Greater Columbus Convention Center in Ohio — is returning as a PulpFest 2025 dealer. According to Doug, PulpFest is “Always one of my favorite cons to attend.” He will have copies of our favorite pulp heroes in the paperback and softcover formats, Golden, Silver, and Bronze age comics, pulp-related games, and more. Stop by Doug’s tables to see what he has to offer at PulpFest 2025.
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 recent work includes X-Amount of Comics: 1963 (WhenElse?!) Annual! and collections of Megaton Man. At PulpFest 2025, 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.
Steven Spilger, from South Bend, Indiana, has been collecting and selling both Silver and Golden Age comics, pulps, books, fanzines, and more for over thirty years. Recently, he’s added illustrative art to the mix. He calls his business Mr. Polyester Books & Comics. The name came from his college friends, who watched him wear the same polyester leisure suit for all of his college yearbook photos. Steven has been a regular PulpFest dealer and supporter for many years. He’ll be sharing a table with Mark Alvarado.
Author Michael Stradford has written several highly regarded books about illustration model, Steve Holland. His first, Steve Holland: The Torn Shirt Sessions, focuses on the classic Doc Savage cover illustrations, paired with original reference photos of Holland posing as Doc, complete with a torn shirt, jodhpurs, and riding boots. Next came Steve Holland: The World’s Greatest Illustration Model, a career-spanning survey of Holland’s broad career, rich with interviews including painters, family members, photographers, and his fellow models. Michael also authored Steve Holland: Cowboy and Steve Holland: Paperback Hero. A former executive in Hollywood’s entertainment industry, Michael recently released a deluxe edition of Steve Holland: The Torn Shirt Sessions. Be sure to stop by his table and pick up a copy. He’ll have some of his other books as well. For more information about Michael’s books, visit stevehollandbook.com/. And be sure to catch his Steve Holland presentation at PulpFest 2025 on Saturday, August 9, at 12:30 pm. To support the deluxe edition of Steve Holland: The World’s Greatest Illustration Model, click here.
A regular dealer at the Windy City Pulp & Paper Convention, please welcome Terry O’Neill of Terry’s Old School Comics to his third PulpFest. A comic book dealer, as well as a comic book collector, Terry’s specialty is vintage comic books, including Gold, Silver, and Bronze Age comics. He also sells original art, pulps, vintage hardcover books, paperbacks, and fanzines. Terry exhibits at many shows and is always looking to buy collections. You can check out Terry’s extensive catalog at terryscomics.com.
Bill Thade will be one of the dealers joining Todd McDevitt of New Dimensions Comics and other local dealers at this year’s PulpFest. Please welcome Bill back to the convention and check out what he has available for sale at his tables.
Tim Paxton of Grand Rapids, Michigan specializes in paperbacks and small-press, first-edition hardcovers, dealing mainly in high-grade science fiction, fantasy, and horror as well as mysteries and pulp-related material. Tim has been selling at PulpFest for many years. You’ll find the Tim’s Books website at AbeBooks.com.
Please extend a hearty welcome to Virginia’s Bill Trible, selling at his second PulpFest since our fiftieth anniversary event. Bill will be bringing a selection of adventure, detective, and western pulps, paperbacks, true crime books, and mystery novels. He’s also very strong in American history books, particularly from the 1930s, the era of the pulp heroes.
Sheila Vanderbeek has been a pulp collector for over fifty years. Hailing from Kalamazoo, Michigan, she’ll have pulp magazines from all genres for sale or trade. Of course, the more she sells, the more she’ll be able to buy from the many fine dealers who will be attending PulpFest 2025. Sheila is one of our nominees for this year’s Munsey Award.
Veritas Entertainment is a production company and publishing house specializing in Men’s Adventure and Pulp Fiction. Founders and authors L. S. Goozdich and Nathanael Hummel, who are also the hosts of the Men’s Adventure Fiction Podcast, will be selling at PulpFest for the first time. They are both incredibly passionate about telling great stories that are filled with action and heart, trying to do their part to bring Pulp and Men’s Adventure back to the forefront of fiction! Please welcome them to PulpFest 2025.
Todd Warren is a pulp, book, and art collector from Fort Washington, PA. He’ll be offering vintage pulps — especially Weird Tales — Arkham House books and other hardcovers, paperbacks, and original pulp and comic-related art. He’ll be joined by his brother, Ross Warren.
Christopher Maffei of Well-Stacked Books comes to PulpFest 2025 out of Parkville, Maryland. A member of the Ephemera Society of America and Independent Online Booksellers Association, Chris is not only a book dealer, but also an avid reader. He will be bringing vintage paperbacks, magazines, first editions, art, graphic novels, pinups, and photos to this year’s PulpFest.
Inducted into The Overstreet Hall of Fame in July 2017, Mark Wheatley is a longtime Edgar Rice Burroughs fan and admirer of the work of Philip José Farmer. He’s painted covers for Norvell W. Page’s The Spider: Satan’s Murder Machines and Amazon Nights by Arthur O. Friel. In collaboration with G. D. Falksen, Mark created the book Doctor Cthulittle. He also illustrated Songs of Giants: Poetry of Pulp, a collection of the very best horror, dark fantasy, and heroic sword and sorcery poetry written by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert E. Howard, and H. P. Lovecraft. More recently, he’s contributed cover art to Meteor House, the Robert E. Howard Foundation, and First Fandom Experience. Mark and his wife Carol will have several new art prints for sale at PulpFest 2025 and some of Mark’s books, including Nucleus X. The book features several portfolios of Mark’s art, including his Robert E. Howard and Edgar Rice Burroughs portfolios.
Richard C. White is a science fiction/fantasy/fantasy noir/action-adventure/non-fiction author. His latest release, On Wings of Steel, a steampunk novel, was released in April 2025. Other works include Chasing Danger: The Case Files of Theron Chase, Harbinger of Darkness, For a Few Gold Pieces More, and Terra Incognito, a non-fiction book on world-building. He’s appeared in the Origins Game Fair anthologies, as well as in pulp anthologies such as Thrilling Adventure Yarns 2021, Liberty Girl: Fight for Freedom, All for One: Tales of the Musketeers, The New Adventures of Rocky Jordan and Charles Boeckman Presents: Johnny Nickle. Rich has other works scheduled for release, with much more to come. A member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America and the International Association of Media Tie-in Writers, please welcome Richard to his first PulpFest.
At PulpFest 2025, you’ll find author, screenwriter, comic scripter, radio personality, podcaster, and television producer John Wooley sharing a dealer’s table with his buddy John McMahan. The winner of the 2006 Lamont Award will have copies of Hard-Boiled Christmas Stories, the anthology he edited with McMahan, and other books at this year’s PulpFest. Stop by his tables and pick up a copy of Beauty and the Bund, the action-packed supernatural sequel to The Cleansing Trilogy, the highly regarded series that John co-authored with the late Robert A. Brown. Check out our profile of John by reading “PulpFest Profile: Seven Senses of John Wooley” on our website.
Please welcome Derek Woywood back to PulpFest for another go-round. The organizer of the bimonthly Philadelphia Comic-Con in the Presidential ballroom of the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center in Essington, PA, will be exhibiting in the foyer right outside our dealers’ room. The owner of Collectors Comics of Clementon, New Jersey, Derek will have vintage comic books, including Gold, Silver, and Bronze Age comics, as well as collector’s supplies.
We’re pleased to welcome back Chicago’s Larry Hallock of Ygor’s Books to PulpFest yet again. Specializing in out-of-print science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction, Larry will be selling original art, paperbacks, hardcovers, digests, pulps, and other collectibles, including many signed items. Stop by his tables to welcome Larry and his lovely wife back to PulpFest.
If you’re interested in selling at PulpFest, our dealers’ room is full. However, we are adding a limited number of tables in the pre-function hallway outside of the dealers’ room. These tables will cost $125 each and will be guarded by security overnight. If you are interested, please write to Jack Cullers at jack@pulpfest.com to sign up for a spot.
If you want to visit our dealers’ room, you have to be a member of PulpFest 2025. To join the convention, click the registration button at the top of this page. Your PulpFest membership also includes memberships in DocCon XXI, ERBFest 2025, and Farmercon XX. That’s four conventions for one price!
If you’re from outside the area, don’t forget to book a room. The deadline to get the convention rate at the DoubleTree was Tuesday, July 15. You may be able to find a comparable hotel room by clicking here. If you’re looking for a roommate, write to Jack Cullers at his email address above.
Join us on Monday, July 22, as we discuss “Pizza at PulpFest,” a favorite event for regular attendees and dealers alike. Stay tuned for this and more at pulpfest.com in the week ahead.
Derek Starr is a writer and popular culture enthusiast who began contributing to our website in 2022. He particularly enjoys the Fiction House pulps. One of his favorites is Planet Stories, the publisher’s legendary science fiction pulp. He’s also a fan of their air pulps and Action Stories and has a soft spot for historical fiction.
Our featured image is a display rack in Evansville, Indiana, circa late summer 1945. This week, we’ve been running photographs of vintage newsstands and magazine racks. Special thanks to ThePulp.Net for sharing their collection of pulp photos from the early 20th century with us.
Our lead image was adapted by William Lampkin from Duncan McMillan’s cover for the September 1, 1930 issue of Adventure. The magazine was home for the fiction of Rafael Sabatini, who wrote Captain Blood: His Odyssey, one of the classics of pirate fiction. We’ll be celebrating the sesquicentennial of Sabatini’s birth at this year’s PulpFest.
George Rozen painted the cover art for the August 1, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine, illustrating the Walter B. Gibson novel, “The Black Hush.” We’ll have several issues of the Street & Smith hero pulp up for bids in our 2025 auction.
In addition to collectible pulp magazines and digests, you’ll also find vintage paperbacks, first-edition hardcovers and series books, original art, genre fiction, B-movies and serials, collectible comic books, and much more in the PulpFest dealers’ room and foyer. Perhaps you’ll even find a copy of Doc Savage Comics #5, with cover art by Jack Binder, published by Street & Smith and dated August 1941.
Set during the Great Depression, John Wooley’s and Robert A. Brown’s well-regarded Cleansing Trilogy concerns a Works Progress Administration folklore worker who runs into a big nest of witches in the mountains. Told in the epistolary style, the protagonist of the three-part series is a Weird Tales fan. Our final image is the June 1935 number of “The Unique Magazine,” featuring cover art by Margaret Brundage. The artwork illustrates the story, “The Horror in the Studio,” a “gripping story of the film industry,” written by Dorothy Quick. It’s not a bad story, but not quite as gripping as John Wooley’s and Robert A. Brown’s Cleansing Trilogy.
