There’s just one week left until the start of PulpFest 2025. 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.
Dealers who arrive early will be able to set up their displays on Wednesday, August 6, from 7 to 9 pm. The time is meant to be used for set-up alone. There will be no buying, selling, or trading permitted during setup time. If any dealer or dealer’s helper is observed buying, selling, or trading, that person will have to leave the dealers’ room immediately.
Our dealers’ room at the DoubleTree is very accessible. Access to the dealers’ room for unloading and loading purposes will be through the ballroom’s rear entrance and the nearby banquet dock. Click here for a map showing the loading area of the hotel and here for a map of the DoubleTree’s Grand Ballroom.
If your dealer tables are in the foyer, just outside of our dealers’ room, at this time, we do not have security scheduled for Wednesday night. This means that on Wednesday evening, you should keep your wares boxes upped and/or stored in the main dealers’ room (which will be locked at night). We will have security in the foyer beginning on Thursday night and running through Saturday night.
Dealer set-up will continue on Thursday, August 7, from 8 – 9 am. Registration for all members will also begin at this time in the foyer outside the dealers’ room at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania.
The dealers’ room will open for early-bird shopping at 9 am on Thursday, August 7. Early-bird shopping will continue until 4:45 pm 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 the 2025 Schedule button to learn more about our great programming, or click here to link to our 2025 mobile schedule. To learn more about a particular programming event, click on its title link.
If you have not yet booked a room for your stay, please call 1-724-776-6900 or 855-610-8733 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 less than two 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, August 3, 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 9. For those not able to attend PulpFest 2025, we will be accepting online auction bids through 9 pm Eastern Time on Sunday, August 3.
If you are exhibiting any symptoms associated with COVID, please stay 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 2025 will be vaccinated against COVID. Although masks 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.
We look forward to seeing you at PulpFest 2025. Remember that your PulpFest membership also includes membership in Doc Con XXI, ERBFest 2025, and FarmerCon XX. That’s four conventions for the one price!
If that’s not enough, New Dimensions Comics, Pittsburgh’s largest retail seller of comics, games, and collectibles, is offering a 10% discount to PulpFest 2025 members from August 7 – 10. Just show your PulpFest badge to the staff when you’re checking out. With six stores in the area, New Dimension’s closest location is just 2.5 miles from the DoubleTree at 20550 Route 19 in Cranberry Township.
Can’t wait for PulpFest 2025 to begin? Relax, it will arrive before you know it. That’s what the Great Khan believes in our featured image, excerpted from Graves Gladney’s original art for The Shadow for September 15, 1939, illustrating Walter B. Gibson’s “The Golden Master.” To learn more about Shiwan Khan’s thoughts concerning PulpFest 2025, please click here.
Our lead image was adapted by William Lampkin from Duncan McMillan’s cover for the September 1, 1930 issue of Adventure.
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 Harold 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 tried things that were outside the box.
See what PulpFest has to offer in this video from PulpFest 2024.
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