For more than fifty years, PulpFest has celebrated mystery, adventure, science fiction, and much more. In the pulp magazines of the early twentieth century — which gave PulpFest its name — the hardboiled detective, science fiction, and sword and sorcery genres developed and flourished. They gave us Buck Rogers, Conan the Barbarian, Cthulhu, Doc Savage, Hopalong Cassidy, John Carter of Mars, Sam Spade, The Shadow, Solomon Kane, Tarzan, Zorro, and many other pop culture icons.
But PulpFest isn’t just about pulps. It’s also home to three other conventions, including ERBFest, a convention celebrating “The Master of Romance and Adventure,” Edgar Rice Burroughs, born nearly 150 years ago on September 1, 1875.
PulpFest has been hosting ERBFest since 2021. That first ERBFest proved popular, and there were calls for more. The convention returned in 2023 to honor the centennials of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., and the author’s celebrated Moon Trilogy. Last year, ERBFest 2024 saluted the 100th anniversary of the first book publication of Burroughs’ The Land That Time Forgot and the 50th anniversary of the film version of Burroughs’ adventure classic.
From the start, ERBFest has been co-hosted by Henry G. Franke III — the editor of The Burroughs Bulletin and The Gridley Wave monthly newsletter. The convention provides Edgar Rice Burroughs fans with a variety of programming and a room full of pulp and book dealers to enjoy. This year, ERBFest will also host an art show on Friday and Saturday afternoons, saluting Burroughs’s 150th birthday. Organized and hosted by Henry Franke, it will take place in the Chestnut Room, near our host hotel’s main elevator.
As a special offer to members of ERBFest 2025, if you join The Burroughs Bibliophiles as a new member, a free back issue of The Burroughs Bulletin will be given to you at the convention. Please visit the organization’s table in the PulpFest dealers’ room for more information.
You can also get a free ERBFest program booklet and special ERBFest items at the convention’s table in the foyer outside the dealers’ room. It will be manned by ERBFest co-host, Henry G. Franke III (except during ERBFest presentations). Look for the ERBFest banner.
Of course, the premier publisher of Edgar Rice Burroughs and related works, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., will have a prominent spot in our dealers’ room. Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Vice President of Publishing Christopher Paul Carey and Vice President of Operations Cathy Mann Wilbanks will also be lending their support to the conventions. Chris L Adams, the author of Gauntlets of Mars, and Win Scott Eckert, author of Pellucidar: Land of Awful Shadow, the forthcoming sequel to Korak at the Earth’s Core, will also be joining them for this year’s convention.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. has also donated multiple door prizes to this year’s ERBFest. We’ll be handing them out during our 2025 programming.
ERBFest 2025 will have presentations scattered throughout our afternoon and evening programming. Bernice Jones & Cathy Wilbanks will get things rolling with “Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Ideal Man.” Jim Beard is next to the vine with “Tarzan: Lord of the Merchandising Jungle,” a look at how Edgar Rice Burroughs’ enduring character has been marketed for over a century.
On Friday, August 8, Christopher Paul Carey, Cathy Wilbanks, Chris L Adams, & Win Scott Eckert explore “The Universe According to Edgar Rice Burroughs,” while artists Mark Wheatley and Doug Klauba treat us to a look at “The Masters of Tarzan Illustration.” From pulps to books to comics and more, they’ll be exploring Tarzan’s illustrators as part of this year’s salute to the sesquicentennial of Edgar Rice Burrough’s birth.
To help celebrate the sesquicentennial of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ birth, Jim Gerlach of ERB Books has donated one of his fantastic collector’s editions to PulpFest 2025. We’ll be raffling off Pirates of Venus – The Illustrators Edition on Saturday evening, August 9, at 7:30 pm. Tickets will be available at the PulpFest 2025 registration desk for $5. You don’t need to be present at the drawing to win. Buy as many tickets as you want for a chance to win a copy of this signed and limited edition, a $349.99 value.
If you can’t wait until PulpFest for a chance to win a copy of Pirates of Venus – The Illustrators Edition, you can get $50 off the regular price if you order a copy online at ERB Books. Use the code PV50 when you check out to save $50.
Following our raffle, Professor Garyn G. Roberts takes to our stage for “Ray Bradbury, Burroughs’ Disciple.”
Closing things out will be the after-hours socializing that the fans of Edgar Rice Burroughs are known to enjoy. These gatherings are always vibrant, entertaining, and informative. Plus, there will be several door prizes available to fans at Saturday night’s “Barsoomian Bull Session” in the hotel’s Ember & Vine social lounge and restaurant.
All this and more will be part of this year’s ERBFest, the 2025 convention for all things Burroughs, taking place from August 7 – 10 at this summer’s PulpFest.
Click the 2025 Schedule button to learn more about our Burroughs-centric events or take a gander at the mini-schedule below.
Thursday, August 7, 2025
Dealers’ Room
9:00 am – 4:45 pm — Dealers’ Room Open for Early-Bird Shopping
Hotel Lounge
4:00 pm – 5:00 pm — ERB Palaver — Informal Socializing at Ember & Vine preceding “Pizza at PulpFest”
Evening Programming
6:55 pm – 7:40 pm — ERBFest — Edgar Rice Burroughs and the Ideal Male (Bernice Jones & Cathy Wilbanks)
9:25 pm – 10:10 pm — ERBFest — Tarzan: Lord of the Merchandising Jungle (Jim Beard)
Friday, August 8, 2025
Dealers’ Room
9:00 am – 4:45 pm — Dealers’ Room Open to All PulpFest Members
Art Show
11:30 am – 1:30 pm — ERBFest — Edgar Rice Burroughs, Master of Adventure (hosted by Henry G. Franke III in the Chestnut Room)
Afternoon Programming
2:30 pm – 3:25 pm — ERBFest — The Universe According to Edgar Rice Burroughs (Christopher Paul Carey, Cathy Wilbanks, Chris L Adams, & Win Scott Eckert)
Evening Programming
7:45 pm – 8:30 pm — ERBFest — The Masters of Tarzan Illustration (Mark Wheatley and Doug Klauba)
Saturday, August 9, 2025
Dealers’ Room
9:00 am – 4:45 pm — Dealers’ Room Open to All PulpFest Members
Art Show
11:30 am – 1:30 pm — ERBFest — Edgar Rice Burroughs, Master of Adventure (hosted by Henry G. Franke III in the Chestnut Room)
Evening Programming
7:30 pm – 7:35 pm — ERB Books Raffle Drawing
7:40 pm – 8:25 pm — ERBFest — Ray Bradbury, Burroughs’ Disciple (Garyn Roberts)
Hotel Lounge
11:35 pm – ?? am — ERBFest — Barsoomian Bull Session — Socialize at Ember & Vine
The general public is welcome to attend our programming events free of charge. For those who want to enjoy our dealers’ room, you can join PulpFest by clicking the register button at the top of this page. Remember, in addition to your membership in PulpFest 2025, you’ll also be a member of Doc Con XXI, ERBFest 2025, and Farmercon XX. That’s four conventions for one price! You can’t beat that deal.
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.
If you’re at a loss as to what to wear to ERBFest 2025 and PulpFest 2025, click the link in our top menu and order a PulpFest t-shirt or pick one up at the convention. They’re available in a variety of sizes in black or royal blue with the PulpFest logo across the chest.
Our featured image was excerpted from J. Allen St. John’s dust jacket for the first edition of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ At the Earth’s Core, published by A. C. McClurg in 1922.
Our lead image was adapted by William Lampkin from Clinton Pettee’s cover art for the July 1913 issue of The All-Story, illustrating the first of three segments of “The Cave Girl,” written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The story and its 1917 sequel, “The Cave Man,” were combined to form the 1925 first hardcover edition of The Cave Girl, published by A. C. McClurg.
Our middle image was also adapted by Lampkin from Douglas C. Klauba’s dust jacket art for Gauntlet of Mars, written by Chris L Adams. It’s the fourteenth volume in the Wild Adventures of Edgar Rice Burroughs series, forthcoming from Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
Our final image was adapted by William Lampkin from Allen Anderson’s original art for the Spring 1950 issue of Planet Stories, illustrating Henry T. Simmons’ novella, “Flame-Jewel of the Ancients.” Also appearing in the issue was Ray Bradbury’s short story, “Forever and the Earth.”
Norman Bean is an Edgar Rice Burroughs fan who joined our staff of volunteer post-writers in August 2023. Norm has written about conventions, “pulp paleontology,” our dealers, and, of course, ERBFest and ERB himself. We look forward to his continued contributions.
Trademarks The Land That Time Forgot®, Caspak™, Caprona™, Tarzan®, Tarzan of the Apes®, Jane Porter®, Korak™, John Carter®, John Carter of Mars®, A Princess of Mars®, Barsoom®, Pellucidar®, David Innes™, Carson of Venus®, Carson Napier™, Amtor™, Beyond the Farthest Star™, The Moon Maid™, Va-nah™, The Monster Men™, Victory Harben™, Weird Worlds™, Edgar Rice Burroughs®, Edgar Rice Burroughs Universe™, ERB Universe™, and Master of Adventure™ Owned by Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc. Associated logos, characters, names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks or registered trademarks of Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.
