PulpFest 2026 may be more than five months off, but this year’s pulp and paperback season will get started on March 15 with the Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Collectors Show & Sale. Now in its 46th year, the convention was started by Tom Lesser in 1980. It has grown to be the world’s largest vintage paperback gathering.
Taking place at the Glendale Civic Auditorium at 1401 North Verdugo Road in Glendale, California, from 9 AM to 4 PM, the Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Collectors Show & Sale costs ten bucks to get in. It’s the best bargain in town.
The 2026 show will feature over 80 dealer tables with tens of thousands vintage paperbacks for sale, from inexpensive filler copies to the rarest collectibles in the hobby. In addition to collectible paperbacks, you’ll also find pulp magazines, original illustration art, hardbound science fiction and mystery books, and more. There is no telling what might show up!
Even with a crowd of collectors around, it’s possible to be the one who discovers a hidden gem at the event. This year, you could be that lucky person!
Over the years, the show has also featured an exciting roster of guest authors and artists. It has included such notables as Poul Anderson, Ray Bradbury, Frederik Pohl, and A. E. Van Vogt (all for over 10 years); Robert Bloch (18 years); and William F. Nolan (probably the show’s champ, with over 33 years of appearances). This year’s show will feature over 45 authors and artists talking with attendees and signing their works for free! Click here for a schedule of this year’s guests.
You’ll find more information about this great collectors’ event at the convention’s website, its Facebook page, or by calling Tom Lesser at 818-855-1786.
On the other side of the country, in Washington, DC, Awesome Con returns to the US capital for its 13th star-studded celebration of geek culture. Taking place at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center from March 13 – 15, Awesome Con will feature a book fair, a science fair where science meets science fiction, and a boatload of guests, including award-winning actor Paul Giamatti, Gillian Anderson of the X-Files and more, Star Trek’s George Takei, Ron Perlman of Hellboy and Sons of Anarchy, and many others. Badges are now on sale at awesome-con.com/badges!
And in Pittsburgh, at the Heinz History Center, is the Pittsburgh Indie Expo, now in its second year. Highlighting independent comics creators, zine makers, artists, small press publishers, and indie game creators in the Pittsburgh region and beyond, PIE brings creators and fans together to showcase work, spark connections, and invigorate the Pittsburgh creative community.
The 2026 PIE will run from 11 am to 5 pm on March 15 at the Heinz History Center. Please write to PIEburgh@gmail.com. Complete with special guests, panels, a mobile cartoon museum, a screening of cartoons from the Fabulous Fleischer Studios archive, and hands-on workshops, please write to PIEburgh@gmail.com for additional information.
Less than two weeks after these two amazing shows, the 25th Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention will return to the Westin Lombard Yorktown Center. It will begin on Friday, March 27, and run through Sunday, March 29. The doors will open at 11 a.m. on Friday, but early-bird shoppers will get the first shot starting at 9:30 a.m. The convention runs until 2 p.m. on Sunday.
The popular Windy City Film Festival, organized by Ed Hulse, editor of Blood ‘n’ Thunder and publisher at Murania Press, returns in 2026. Material from the Robert Weinberg Estate and items from other consignors will be the focus of the Friday and Saturday night auctions. An art show and New Pulp Sunday will also be part of the convention’s schedule. And, of course, Tom Roberts, the publisher of Black Dog Books and winner of the 2008 Lamont Award, will be putting together another great edition of Windy City Pulp Stories.
Click on the link that starts our post to learn more about this year’s Windy City Pulp and Paper Convention or visit the convention’s Facebook page. More details will be revealed as the convention approaches. Be sure to bookmark both sites.
If you’re from the Pittsburgh region or interested in unidentified flying objects, head to the Westmoreland Community College Science Hall on Saturday, April 11, for the 2026 Pittsburgh Area UFO Conference, sponsored by String Theory of the Unexplained. Located at 145 Pavilion Lane in Youngwood, PA, the conference will begin at 9 a.m. with lectures on extraterrestrials, UFO hunting, abduction research, and more. The conference runs until 6 p.m.
For additional information about the conference or the Mutual UFO Network, please contact John Ventre of String Theory of the Unexplained at 724-836-1266. John will be speaking at the conference and at the 2026 PulpFest. His talk on Amazing Stories editor Ray Palmer will be on Friday, July 31.
While at this year’s Windy City event, pick up a PulpFest 2026 postcard or a copy of our newsletter and registration form. Both will be available at the show. You’ll also find our postcards at the Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Collectors Show & Sale and the Pittsburgh Area UFO Conference.
To learn more about PulpFest 2026, click the “2026 Schedule” button at the top of our page. It begins on Thursday, July 30, and runs through Sunday afternoon, August 2. The convention will take place just outside of Pittsburgh at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, Pennsylvania. For information on how to join PulpFest 2026, click the “register” button on our website. If you need lodging, you can also book a room through our site.
Our featured image is excerpted from the 2026 Los Angeles Vintage Paperback Collectors Show & Sale poster, with art by Chris Turner, a retired concept designer who worked at Walt Disney Imagineering for over 26 years. The image is used with permission.
Our lead image is the April 1926 issue of Amazing Stories, featuring cover art by Frank R. Paul, a pioneering American illustrator best known for shaping the visual language of science fiction during the early 20th century. This year marks the centennial of the magazine.
In 1938, Amazing Stories was acquired by Ziff-Davis, a company then based in the Windy City. Naming Ray Palmer as the magazine’s editor, the cover for the first “pure-Palmer” issue was a photograph staged by Horace Hime and Frank Lewis. The concept was largely derided by science fiction fans. After one more cover photograph, the magazine returned to illustrated covers.
The October 1957 issue of Amazing Stories was a “special flying saucer issue” that featured a “Flying Saucer Forum,” with contributions from Ray Palmer, Kenneth Arnold, Gray Barker, Richard Shaver, and the United States Air Force. There were also two UFO stories, pseudonymously written by Aldis Budrys and Harlan Ellison. The cover art was by Ed Valigursky.
For a short video about PulpFest, please visit our YouTube Channel for Craig McDonald’s video, Make Your Plans for PulpFest 2026!
And while you’re there, be sure to add your name to our growing subscriber list.
