EDitorial Comments

At Long Last . . .

Posted in Uncategorized on May 21, 2012 @ 4:12 pm

BnT editor/publisher Ed Hulse

Well, it’s certainly been a long time coming, but the Murania Press web site is finally here, and I hope you visit frequently.

Originally, I planned to discuss and promote my zine Blood ‘n’ Thunder on a Blogspot page cleverly (or so I thought) titled Blog ‘n’ Thunder. I registered the name and created a template but never actually launched the thing. As explained in the “EDitorial Comments” page of BnT’s recent double issue, the last two years have been extremely hard on me for a variety of reasons, and I gradually lost that initial sense of urgency about getting the blog up and running. Now, having finally emerged from the long, dark tunnel I’ve been traversing lo these many months, I’m determined to get Murania Press on a fast track. Hence the site you’re visiting for the first time.

In addition to Blood ‘n’ Thunder – ostensibly, if not in actuality, a quarterly magazine – Murania Press has published other books and periodicals, and many more are in development. You can keep abreast of upcoming titles by checking back on a regular basis. But the site’s blog page won’t be reserved solely for shameless self-promotion; you’ll be able to access new-release details on other pages. Here I also plan on covering topics that will interest those of you who, like me, share a passion for adventure, mystery and melodrama in storytelling media of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Story papers, dime novels, nickel weeklies, pulp magazines, slick magazines, hardcover novels, motion pictures, comic strips, radio dramas, early paperback originals—I love ‘em all. One blog post might cover a pulp I just read, the next an old movie I recently revisited. Hopefully my observations and appraisals will provoke discussion and debate. It seems to me there’s increasingly less intelligent conversation on message boards devoted to the study and appreciation of vintage pop culture. These days, off-topic diversions consume far more bandwidth than was the case years ago, when the ‘net brought so many of us together.

One venerable Yahoo group formed for devotees of vintage pulp fiction has been hijacked by a cadre of SF (Science Fiction, to you newbies) fans with little or no interest in the old rough-paper magazines. An endless string of inquiries about author estates now dominates the board, which not so many years ago boasted frequent participation from pulp fandom’s leading lights. It’s my fervent hope that this blog will recapture the enthusiasm of those heady days. I’d like nothing more than to find my posts eliciting lively comments from a faithful following of fellow fans. (Even if only to criticize my penchant for alliteration.) Guess I’ve got my work cut out for me. Stay tuned.

35 thoughts on “At Long Last . . .

  1. Ed,

    The site looks great. Looking forward to the blog catching fire.
    Thanks for the All-Westerns issue
    of BNT. Another great effort topped off by the addition of THE KILLER by
    Stewart Edward White. Whew! There
    were many highlights at Windy City and
    sitting the hotel lobby finishing the
    White tale was one of them. Also, the arrival of BAREHANDED CASTAWAYS. I’m moved it to the top of my next to
    read stack.
    Good luck!

  2. Ed,
    I’ve been biting my nails waiting for you to go live!! It’s about goddamn time you got this website up and running (did I get that right? :-)…now if only you can get a link up on the PulpFest webpage…apparently you are neither a dealer nor a friend …or a publisher or a pulpsite ….sheeeesh, you’d think you’d have some pull over there!! Thanks, Ed for being a 21st century trailblazer in keeping the pulp flame burning bright! and giving us fans hungry for a “real” forum to discuss pulps.

    • I’ve just taken care of that little detail over on the PulpFest site. I’ll be adding more links soon and hopefully there will be reciprocation.

  3. For Chissakes, it’s about time Ed. We will have to see how long it is before the SF fans take over your blog and kill all discussion of pulp magazines. Not that there is anything wrong with that…

    I know the yahoo group that you are talking about and I even joined another group hoping to find more discussion of the old magazines that we love. Turns out they also have a cadre of hardcore SF guys that do not want to discuss fiction magazines.

    I still hopefully read the posts and every now and then stumble across some reference to the fiction magazines. I’m glad to see your blog up and running.

  4. I’ll be looking forward to your thoughts on all those vintage films and pulp magazines so many of us still love.
    Hopefully you willhave something kind to say about SF for the Old Space Hounds like myself. That is not to say I have no interest in all the other genres and sub-genres of the pulps. I’d love to see something about one of my all time favorite mags, namely Planet Stories. Of course you may have already covered it in BnT. And I am too lazy to dig out my copies and check myself.

  5. Actually Scott I was about to add the link myself when I saw it was already there. I should have read the comments first.

  6. Big ED: Fabulous! Finally, a classy website dealing with all things pulp-nostalgic! Best of luck to you in keeping this a vibrant and influential GO-TO place for what we all hope is growing community! I, as many others, will be keeping an eye on you. Keep up the great work!

  7. Hi. I have used my husband’s email address. He wrote as Charles Beckman, Jr. starting in 1945. His genres were detective, crime, and suspense plus westerns.
    He is now 91 and discovered only a year or so ago that there are pulp lovers scattered all around the country. We are in the process of putting together an anthology of some of his suspense and crime stories and will have it on Amazon in the near future.
    The title is SUSPENSE, SUSPICION & SHOCKERS. We know how devoted pulp lovers are and just wanted to let you, and others you may know, hear about this book if you would like to get a copy. 

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