It’s a big weekend in JDP-land for a couple reasons. First, The Walking Dead returns Sunday night with new episodes, and we’re always glad to have fresh zombie-based entertainment to look forward to. Just as important, though, following The Walking Dead is the premiere of Comic Book Men, the new AMC reality show based on Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, a local comic book shop right here in Red Bank, NJ.

Though I’m happy for the crew at the Stash, I suspect I’m about to be like one of those fans of an indie band that makes it big: I’m going to annoyingly tell everyone I know that I knew about them when. The Stash has always been my comic book shop, the place I went to pick up the monthly issue of Buffy Season 8 or the trade hardback of Tomb of Dracula. That it just happened to carry all manner of Kevin Smith memorabilia (including the original the Buddy Christ statue from Dogma) was just gravy.

Red Bank in general is an oasis of coolness amidst the cookie-cutter shopping centers and strip malls of Central Jersey. Directly across from the Stash is Jack’s Music Shoppe, one of the best independent record stores on the East Coast. Add in Elsie’s Subs (which doesn’t have a website but which is worth a hundred Subways) and you’ve got the perfect trifecta for a Saturday afternoon — comics, vinyl, and sandwiches.

(Someone should really set a story there. Oh wait.)

So congrats to the guys at the Stash and welcome back, Walking Dead. While you’re waiting for the big premieres, be sure to check out some of our favorite zombie stories from the mighty JDP archive. Because we were always living dead even when living dead wasn’t cool.

“Road Test” by Laura Garrison
“The Downside of Undying Love” by Ash Krafton
“The Zombie Wish” by Brenna Watry
“Jenny” by Jozelle Dyer
“Gooseflesh” by Jack Frey
“Night of the Living” by Eirik Gumeny