Category Archives: Jersey Devil Press

Zombies R Us

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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

The Ties that Bind

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Ah, relationships.

The very foundation of our lives, the emotional Higgs boson force that surrounds and holds us together, sometimes whether we want them to or not. This month JDP turns the focus on those wondrous and confounding ties that bind, be it traditional romantic love, the unique bond between siblings, the daily camaraderie of coworkers, or that most special of all relationships: the one between a sex worker and the tangible, carnivorous darkness living in her closet.

So kick back with someone you care about, crack open the Whitman’s sampler, and have a good read. The February Issue is cheaper than dinner, costs less than roses, and is guaranteed to make you swoon.

Read it online here or as a PDF here.

Scaring the Shit out of Little Kids since 1956

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Photo Credit: Wikipedia

There was a lot going on over the past week. Jersey’s favorite son released a new song and announced a new album. Jersey Devil Press wrapped up its Brilliant Disguise writing exercise. Oh, and there might’ve been an Internet protest or two regarding SOPA.

Amidst all that, I didn’t want to let an important milestone pass by unnoticed. Last Wednesday was Calico the Clown’s fifty-sixth birthday.

For those that don’t know, the Evil Clown of Middletown is a twenty-foot-tall, metal roadside attraction constructed in 1956 to deeply unnerve small children and possibly advertise a local grocery store. When I contemplate the events that shaped me and made me the person I am today, I can’t help but think of driving past this huge, demented motherfucker every time Mom took me with her food shopping. Trust me: there was more than one night I was sure Satan’s jester had broken loose from his metal moorings and tracked me down to murder me in my sleep.

So, Happy Birthday, Calico! Thanks for scaring the shit out of me as a child.

And, don’t worry: the town fathers made sure to give Calico a fresh coat of paint a few months ago, so he’ll be traumatizing toddlers in Central Jersey for years to come.

Be sure to check out his Facebook Page, for all the latest updates on the metal monstrosity. (Personally, I still like to know what his status is after dark.)

Then come back to JDP and read Annam Manthiram’s wonderful “Rodeo Clown” from Issue 14. Because not all clowns are 20-foot-tall hellspawns.