So what’s PulpFest? Is it one of those things where people walk around wearing costumes? Is it a comic book convention? What’s pulp?
Do these questions sound familiar?
Because of their painted covers, people often mistake pulps for comic books. But the two are quite different.
PulpFest is named for pulp magazines — fiction periodicals named after the cheap pulp paper on which they were printed. Frank A. Munsey pioneered the format in 1896 with The Argosy. Stories like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “Tarzan and the Apes” and Max Brand’s “Destry Rides Again” really got things moving.
The pulps began to flourish after the introduction of genre magazines like Detective Story Magazine and Love Story. Magazine legends Black Mask, Weird Tales, and Amazing Stories debuted during the 1920s. The thirties introduced the hero pulps and weird horror magazines. Science fiction exploded as the world went to war in 1939.
By the early fifties, the pulps had essentially disappeared. Although a few continued as digest magazines, most vanished due to competition from paperback books, comics, radio, television, movies, and more. But the fiction and artwork that had appeared in the rough-paper periodicals remained vibrant for collectors.
These hearty pulp enthusiasts gradually assembled astounding collections of these rough and ragged magazines. More than fifty years ago, they formed a convention dedicated to the premise that the pulps had a profound effect on popular culture across the globe. The fiction and art of the pulps reverberated through a wide variety of media — comic books, movies, paperbacks and genre fiction, television, men’s adventure magazines, radio drama, and even video, anime, and role-playing games. Today, we call this convention PulpFest.
The summertime destination for fans and collectors of popular culture, both old and new, PulpFest honors the pulps by drawing attention to the many ways these throwaway magazines have inspired writers, artists, film directors, software developers, and other creators over the decades.
Why not see what it’s all about? PulpFest 2027 will take place from Thursday, August 5, through Sunday, August 8, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry. We’ll be celebrating the 90th anniversary of The Shadow radio drama’s debut, featuring a young Orson Welles as the title character, and more at PulpFest 2027. We’ll be joined by Doc Con 2027, the 2027 ECOF gathering, Farmercon XXII, and The Shadow Con 2027. Start planning now to join PulpFest 2027 in Mars, Pennsylvania.
Every year, PulpFest celebrates mystery, adventure, science fiction, romance, and other forms of genre fiction. The rough paper magazines played a major role in the development of fiction categories. Pulp publisher Street & Smith pioneered the specialized fiction magazine in late 1915. About ten years later, Hugo Gernsback debuted Amazing Stories — the first science fiction magazine. Its regular cover artist for much of the 1930s was Leo Morey. A prime example of his work is the May 1931 issue of Amazing Stories.
Over the years, pulp characters such as Zorro, Conan, Buck Rogers, Sam Spade, The Shadow — depicted in our featured image by George Rozen, excerpted from his cover art for the August 1, 1933 issue of The Shadow Magazine — Doc Savage, and Cthulhu have inspired creators across the globe.
Our final image was adapted by William Lampkin from George Rozen’s cover art for The Shadow for May 1, 1938, illustrating Walter B. Gibson’s novel, “Cards of Death,” and celebrating The Shadow on the Mutual Broadcasting System. Characters such as The Shadow continue to influence the world’s pop culture. Come to PulpFest 2027 to learn more about the pulps and the creators they continue to inspire.
