Pulp Conventions PulpFest PulpFest 2025

Personal Demons and the Creative Mind

William Patrick Maynard, Will Murray, Morgan Holmes, Craig McDonald, and John Bruening talk about pulp fictioneers and their personal demons

Author William Patrick Maynard moderates a discussion of how pulp-era fictioneers — Raymond Chandler, Robert E. Howard, William Lindsey Gresham, and Lester Dent — drew on their anxieties, experiences, and weaknesses to fuel and add to their work. The panel features author John Bruening, co-publisher at Flinch! Books, pulp fan Morgan Holmes, author and PulpFest committee member Craig McDonald, and author and pulp historian Will Murray. This Pulp Tales was recorded at PulpFest 2025 in Pittsburgh on Friday, Aug. 8.