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.

Land of Wonder

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There’s nothing we hate more at JDP than controversy. (Well, maybe Nazis.)

So we don’t want to get ourselves embroiled in another country’s cultural and historical imbroglio by celebrating Australia Day, which, it turns out, a lot of folks seem to regard as a bit like our own Columbus Day, what with the inadvertent celebrating of colonialism and destruction of the indigenous.

But we do really like Australians (they’re like plucky Canadians) and we did want to do something non-controversial for their national holiday.

Our solution? Happy y.t. sumner Day!

(Or should that be, happy y.t. sumner day?)

Why? Because, well, she’s one of our favorite writers and comes (as far as we know) without any colonial baggage or awkward historical interpretations. And she should really be considered a national treasure by her fellow Australians (or “mates”) right up there with the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Bloomin’ Onion.

So find your old Betamax tapes of The Paul Hogan Show, crack open a Coopers oil can, and throw some decaped crustaceans on the barbecue. We’re going to bask in God’s-gift-to-flash-fiction and take a tour of some of yasmin’s best work to enjoy while setting off your special Australian fireworks.

First stop: her website. It’s chock-o-block full of good stuff including her 100 postcards project (which by the way, she really needs to finish).

Next is the story that started it all (well at least for us anyway), the Pushcart-nominated “big girl” from JDP’s 2010 Anthology.

Onwards to Housefire, where we have it on reliable authority that yasmin’s written a bunch of amazing stuff (maybe even a novella) even though we’ll be damned if we can find it on their new site. But head over there and knock; I’m sure they can direct you. (And let us know if you find a preview of her new story inspired by Stephen King’s IT, because we’re kinda looking forward to that.)

Next? How about a double-shot of JDP faves as yasmin teams with Chloe Caldwell (better than when Superman shows up in Detective Comics!) over at Bluestem Magazine with the deeply unsettling, “The Vegetable Game.”

Afterwards, take a spin by Connotation Press for the surprisingly upbeat U-turn. It’ll make you feel better.

Finally, wrap things up with a personal favorite of mine, “Hole in the Garden,” from JDP’s first-ever All-Star Invitational Issue. (Hmmm…we should really do another one of those soon.)

And there you have it! There’s even more stuff we’ve missed (not to mention pictures with octopi) but that should be plenty for your celebration of the only nation-state that’s also its own continent.

Happy y.t. sumner day!