Despite a decade having passed, I still remembered it vividly… which is why I was thoroughly confused when my GPS announced our “arrival” and I didn’t recognize anything. Apparently, I’d missed the memo that the Secret Stash had moved down the street to a larger location in late 2020. The shop was in the middle of a busy street in downtown Red Back. I was looking for the ‘Buddy Jesus’ statue used in Smith’s film Dogma (1999) and once prominently displayed outside the store as a marker, but it was nowhere to be seen. According to my GPS, I’d driven right past it. I found a place to park and walked with the device in hand, finally spotting the store across the street.

The inside was indeed larger and featured homages to the Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) characters throughout the store, and one that featured neither. A prop from Smith’s dark comedy, Tusk (2014), was in a glass case to your left when you walked in. I’d seen it before at a past Horrorhound Weekend in Indianapolis.

It wasn’t long before we found ‘Jesus,’ who has a new permanent exhibit towards the end of the store.

The back of the store was designed to resemble the exterior of the “Quick Stop” from Smith’s first Indie hit, Clerks (1994), with giant Jay and Silent Bob Funko Pops standing outside.

To the left of this display was another room that featured all kinds of pop culture toys and items for sale.

As this was a comic book shop, there were plenty of those, along with collected editions. On several spinner racks, there were signed comics that Smith had participated in.

I remember seeing Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes while I was assisting Svengoolie at C2E2 a couple of years back. At the time, Smith had so many fans in line to see him that he couldn’t fit an interview with the MeTV horror host into his schedule. I remember he was charging like 80 to 100 bucks for an autograph. If you’re less interested in meeting him than in getting his signature, I suggest taking a road trip to the Secret Stash. I picked up a Kevin Smith-signed Giant-Sized Amazing Spider-Man from last summer for $30. I chose the Lee Bermejo variant cover because he’s one of my favorite current active comic book creators. I know he was in Chicago a year or two ago, and I was disappointed I wasn’t able to make the event. Hopefully, he’ll return, and I can add his signature to Smith’s.

When I went to pay for the comic, I also noticed they had signed physical media for sale. My favorite of Smith’s films is Mallrats (1995), so I picked up a 4K Arrow Video copy signed by both Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes for just $50. You can’t beat that!

Ming Chen wasn’t there, but the man who rang me up on this day did look very familiar. It wasn’t until I looked it up later that I discovered it was Walt Flanagan, the store’s manager, who was also featured on the old reality show. He currently sports a full head of white hair, which threw me off, and I’m sorry I didn’t get a selfie with him for this blog.

Jason and I picked up dinner and then went back to the hotel to watch movies before crashing out. We both woke up early the next morning and immediately packed up to leave. We said our ‘Goodbyes’ and Jason took off for Rhode Island while I drove to Pittsburgh. I would make an unplanned stop somewhere on the way, which I’ll go into details about in a couple of months. On the day I post, you’ll understand why I waited. I also stopped at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh to do some photography.

The next day, I drove back to my Chicago suburban apartment, passing the time listening to the old STAR WARS radio show. During the drive, I pondered when I’d see Jason again and what the next event we’d conquer would be. The answer came much sooner than expected.

But that’s a story for another time. Next Friday, it’s all about Godzilla as my 2026 G-FEST Diaries begin.

Dave~