Weird Tales published issue number 366, a sword-and-sorcery issue, in early 2023, but there was no mention in its pages of an anniversary. I found that odd. Did the publisher and editor not know that their magazine was turning 100 years old at about the time they were making their newest issue available? You would think they would, but I think it's very possible that they didn't. We should remember that the businesses behind the magazine have been extremely secretive for years. And we should realize that secrecy is a hallmark of dysfunction. Just be up front. Tell us the truth. We can handle it. We're adults.
I have found out during 2023-2024 that the business behind Weird Tales magazine is also more or less incompetent. We should never underestimate the power of incompetence in making a wreck of things. We see that every day now that we're a quarter of a way through the twenty-fist century. We might actually be living in a Golden Age of Incompetence. One of the bad things about living in a Golden Age of Incompetence is that we might not survive long enough to live in the Silver Age.
Anyway, there is no anniversary content in Weird Tales #366, issued in early 2023. (That issue is otherwise undated.) If there was any on its way, it would have to wait until the next issue was published, which would be--when exactly? We didn't know. So what happened instead? Well, Weird Tales was scooped by The Pulpster, the magazine of the pulp-fiction convention PulpFest, held every year in the Pittsburgh area, formerly in Columbus, Ohio.
Actually Weird Tales was scooped in this very space. After all, I wrote on January 5, 2023 (here), about the one-hundred-year anniversary of "The Unique Magazine." But that wasn't anything in print. Print means something far more significant than do a bunch of organized electrons, and so we have to give PulpFest and The Pulpster credit. If there was anything in print before The Pulpster #32, dated August 2023, I don't know what it was.
PulpFest is an annual pulp fiction/pulp magazine convention, usually held in about the middle of summer. I didn't go in 2023 and I don't have the dates marked on my calendar. I believe it was in about the first week of August as it has been for the past few years. Every year, PulpFest publishes a nicely made magazine called The Pulpster. I have a copy of that magazine from last year's PulpFest. It was a gift from my friend SP, who is an artist, illustrator, and fan of comic book art and popular illustration. Thank you, SP.
The editor of The Pulpster #32, August 2023, was William Lampkin. The assistant editor was Peter Chomko, and the publisher was Mike Chomko. There are five thematic sections included in issue number 32, plus some other content. The fourth section in the magazine is called "A Century of Weird Tales." Its contents:
- "A 'Weird Tales' Club Member's Claim to Fame: Hugh Hefner's Love of the Pulps Was Reflected in His Men's Magazines" by Tony Davis (pp. 42-43+), plus a sidebar called "What Kind of Man Reads 'Blood 'n' Thunder'," also by Tony Davis (p. 43).
- "Remembered for 'Weird Tales,' HPL: Frank Belknap Long Reflects on Writing Supernatural Horror and Science Fiction" by Darrell Schweitzer (first published in Nyctalops 11/12, Apr. 1976) (pp. 46-50).
(Boldface added.)
There are also mentions of Weird Tales and some of its authors elsewhere in the magazine, including in advertisements. The current Weird Tales placed a full-page, full-color advertisement on page 44. That ad includes part of the iconic Bat-Woman cover from November 1933. The copy reads:
A couple of pages before that is an advertisement for the sale of a complete run of Weird Tales. I might have met the man who was offering that collection for sale. That was a few years ago at PulpFest, when it was held in Columbus, Ohio. Anyway, the going price was $125,000. I don't know whether that collection sold or not. At an original average price of 25 cents per issue, the total for those magazines would have added up to about $70.
PulpFest is put on and attended by diehard fans. They know their stuff. This is more than what we can say, I think, for some people who are actually active in writing, editing, and publishing genre fiction. So, congratulations to PulpFest and The Pulpster for being first in print (as far as I know) to observe the centennial of Weird Tales, and for its continued success. Next year's event is scheduled for August 7-10, 2025, in the Pittsburgh area.
Original text copyright 2024 Terence E. Hanley
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