PulpFest

We hope you’ll join us August 4 - 7 in 2022 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Pittsburgh – Cranberry in Mars, PA as we celebrate a half-century of pulp cons, the centennial of Fiction House, and the 90th anniversary of Popular Publications’ “Dime” line of pulp magazines.

Join us in August 2022 for PulpFest 50!

PulpFest regrets to inform you that their 2020 Guest of Honor, Eva Lynd, will not be able to attend this year's convention. Due to safety concerns, Eva and her publishers have decided to cancel her appearance at PulpFest 2020. Learn more at pulpfest.com.

Goodbye, pulp fans. We hope to see you on our much more active pages. Thanks for following us here on tumblr.

Popular Publications second science fiction pulp appeared a month behind its first, ASTONISHING STORIES. Entitled SUPER SCIENCE STORIES, it would alternate months with its older cousin. Its first issue was dated March 1940. According to the Internet Science Fiction Database, the cover art is not credited; nor does the artwork show a signature. Based on the appearance of the people in the sphere, our best guess is that it is Gabriel Humberto Mayorga. He painted a number of covers for both ASTONISHING and SUPER SCIENCE. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-vT01eoDza/?igshid=1kl5o9v024zo1

As we have seen over the last two days, by 1940 Popular Publications was a powerhouse in the world of pulps. Their "Dime" line of magazines had been a gold mine, as well as their hero pulps, and the weird menace magazines. Although the company was gobbling up some of the leading pulps of the day -- ACE-HIGH, ADVENTURE, and BLACK MASK, among others -- it had yet to get a foothold in the strengthening genre of science fiction. In late 1939, Harry Steeger and his partner, Harold Goldsmith, decided to test the waters, if you will, with a pair of budget magazines. The first out of the gate was ASTONISHING STORIES with a cover date of February 1940. The cover painting was by Jack Binder. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-vSG2NI5W4/?igshid=1qj5ro97015e5

When Popular Publications took over the Munsey titles in late 1942, the publisher wasn't exactly keen on the science fiction genre. In fact, the company's two science fiction titles -- ASTONISHING STORIES and SUPER SCIENCE STORIES -- were about to be cancelled. Popular was at first reluctant to take on a pair of fantasy titles, but opted to continue FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES. Its younger companion, FANTASTIC NOVELS, would be filed away for some time down the road. We know you saw this one last week, but it's a great one. The cover painting is by Virgil Finlay for the first of the Popular issues of FFM. The cover date is March 1943. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-vQY-1I_2t/?igshid=65yzhqhlg3i4

Today, PulpFest has asked publisher Mike Croteau to write about how his small press, Meteor House, is trying to help out during these difficult times. Read "Flattening the Curve with Meteor House" at www.pulpfest.com to learn how one small company is working to stay strong amidst the COVID19 pandemic. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-uIU0MIQ1c/?igshid=1vvx4lmg83svg

Then came late 1942, when the Frank A. Munsey Company sold ARGOSY, FLYNN'S DETECTIVE FICTION WEEKLY, RAILROAD MAGAZINE, and a number of other magazines — including their FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES and FANTASTIC NOVELS — to Popular Publications. Pictured here is the first issue of the longlived and much loved ARGOSY with the Popular Publications logo on its cover. The date of the issue is January 1943 and the World War inspired cover art is by Peter Stevens. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-svB9YoK_s/?igshid=t19xyotny7s5

In the spring of 1940, Popular Publications acquired the great BLACK MASK -- the pulp where the hardboiled detective story took root and flourished. The first Popular issue was dated June 1940. This one is from August of the same year, featuring a grim cover painted by the great Rafael DeSoto. From mid-1940 until early 1947, DeSoto contributed about fifty covers to the magazine. He also painted covers for many other Popular detective pulps, including DETECTIVE TALES, DIME DETECTIVE, DIME MYSTERY, 15 STORY DETECTIVE, FLYNN’S DETECTIVE FICTION, NEW DETECTIVE, and, of course, THE SPIDER. If you'd like to read more about BLACK MASK, William Patrick Maynard and Mike Chomko authored a fine profile of the magazine for the PulpFest homepage. You'll find their post at https://www.pulpfest.com/2020/03/pulpfest-profile-black-mask/. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-stT-SoEDb/?igshid=mhj0of5su3fo

By publishing popular and successful magazines such as DIME DETECTIVE and THE SPIDER, Popular Publications was able to strengthen and grow. Steeger and Goldsmith grew their company in other ways, most notably by purchasing some of the best titles from publishers looking to get out of the pulp industry. ADVENTURE became a Popular title with its May 1934 issue -- this one's from August of the same year, featuring cover art by John Newton Howitt. The former Clayton pulp ACE-HIGH MAGAZINE became a Popular western pulp during the summer of 1936. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-srmFRIOMS/?igshid=gbobwahnr2in

In the same month as the premier of THE SPIDER, Popular transformed the relatively moribund DIME MYSTERY BOOK MAGAZINE into the first "weird menace" or shudder pulp. It was later followed by TERROR TALES and HORROR STORIES (as well as a host of imitators from other publishers). Pictured here is the September 1934 TERROR TALES -- featuring cover art by Rudolph W. Zirm -- the magazine's first issue. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-qKO9xorb5/?igshid=1f7z3iqwmgut4

But Popular Publications did not stop there. Noticing the tremendous popularity of Street & Smith's hero pulp, THE SHADOW, Harry Steeger came out with his own version. The first issue of THE SPIDER was dated October 1933 and featured a cover painting by Walter M. Baumhofer. Steeger would follow with other hero pulps, among them DUSTY AYRES AND HIS BATTLE BIRDS, G-8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES, SECRET SERVICE OPERATOR NO. 5, and THE SECRET SIX. Despite being hero pulps, all of the Popular single-character magazines displayed a lot of science fiction trappings including death rays, invisible men, mad scientists, and more. Both DUSTY AYRES and OPERATOR NO. 5 featured lengthy series concerning the invasion of America. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-qIhRCIu3w/?igshid=5q33ktoeobk9

On Wednesday of last week, we began discussing the Popular Publications version of FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES. When Popular Publications purchased a number of pulps from the Frank A. Munsey Company in late 1942, it was one of the three leading pulp magazine publishers in the United States. The other two were Street & Smith and Standard Magazines. Popular was founded in 1930 by former Dell magazine editor Henry "Harry" Steeger, III and Harold Goldsmith, the Business Manager of Ace Publications. In September of the same year, they released their first four pulp magazines. Although Popular managed to get off of the ground, it wasn't until early 1932 that the company really took off. That was when they released the first issue of DIME DETECTIVE, dated May 1932, featuring cover art by William Reusswig. They soon followed with other "Dime" books including DIME SPORTS and DIME WESTERN. Best known for their detective and western pulps -- primarily DIME DETECTIVE and DIME WESTERN -- Popular was also quite successful in the hero field. Such titles as THE SPIDER, OPERATOR #5, and G-8 AND HIS BATTLE ACES had become leading titles in their field. Popular was also the publisher that introduced the first weird menace pulps: DIME MYSTERY MAGAZINE, TERROR TALES, and HORROR STORIES. Other publishers soon followed Popular into this relatively short-lived genre. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-qG1kaIwj5/?igshid=rtrtvrvjew8k

Starting today, PulpFest will run three posts each week. They'll be writing about prolific pulpster G. T. Fleming-Roberts, their programming plans, the Munsey Award, Philip José Farmer, and more. So check them out every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at pulpfest.com. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-o-uLNBjMm/?igshid=1ji25rbvd9sgz

In addition to such classics as H. Rider Haggard's "The Ancient Allan" -- originally serialized by CASSELL'S MAGAZINE OF FICTION in 1919 -- Mary Gnaedinger also published new fiction by leading writers of science fiction and fantasy. Some of the authors that she published included Ray Bradbury, August Derleth, Henry Kuttner, Murray Leinster, C. L. Moore, and others. Haggard's Allan Quatermain story appeared in the December 1945 issue of FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES, behind a cover by Lawrence Sterne Stevens. Next week, we'll take a step back and look at Popular's original science fiction pulps, ASTONISHING STORIES and SUPER SCIENCE STORIES. In the meantime, visit our homepage to read about this summer's PulpFest. We're planning to hold in August 6 - 9 in Mars, PA when we'll salute Ray Bradbury. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ib4kTosc5/?igshid=1qxmxntejh0ou

From giant squids to this lovely maiden, Lawrence Sterne Stevens could paint them all. This one's for the September 1945 FAMOUS FANTASTIC MYSTERIES, reprinting a novel by Edwin Lester Arnold that was originally published in 1890. Other authors reprinted by the Popular version of the Mary Gnaedinger edited pulp magazine included Algernon Blackwood, G. K. Chesterton, Arthur Conan Doyle, Lord Dunsany, C. F. Forester, H. Rider Haggard, William Hope Hodgson, Cutcliffe Hyne, Jack London, Guy de Mauppassant, M. P. Shiel, John Taine, and H. G. Wells. https://www.instagram.com/p/B-iaKscIh0i/?igshid=1jogerw8b70pt