Matthew Pariselli
The zombie frenzy gets revived on Sunday when season 6 of The Walking Dead returns (Casey Florig/Flickr)
This year’s Thanksgiving may include the added ingredients of blood and terror.
The Walking Dead tears its way back on to television screens with its season 6 premiere on Sunday, which promises to indulge viewers’ appetites.
Creator Robert Kirkman, who appeared at New York Comic-Con on Thursday, said this season is the series’ “most intense” and that “there’ll be pretty big cliffhangers at the end of every episode.”
Debra Yeo, deputy entertainment editor at The Toronto Star, was given early access to the premiere. She said the episode will have viewers tense and hungry for more.
“There’s something that happens involving zombies that fans will be really excited about,” Yeo said. “Without giving away too many details, let’s just say fans are going to see more zombies than I can remember having seen at one time in any one episode of the show.”
“It’s going to be satisfying for fans who will be left saying, ‘uh oh!’ after watching it and hopefully looking forward to episode two to see how the characters counteract a threat,” she added.
It appears fans of the show are ready to eat it up.
Twitter has been seething with anxious tweets from fans.
Happy feeding frenzy Friday #FFF my delicious #TWDFamily But leave plenty of room my walker pals For Sunday night we dine on fresh meat
— Starving Walker (@StarvingWalker) October 9, 2015
2 DAYS! #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/SWIZqYKSKj — TWD Support Group (@TWDSupportGroup) October 9, 2015
The fan fever hit a high following the release of this trailer:
TWD has given zombies a rejuvenated life in pop culture consciousness. The introduction of World Zombie Day embodies this.
Happy #WorldZombieDay back to u, @WalkingDead_AMC. Luv, the girl bait at LA #ZombieFashionShow pic.twitter.com/7ewWIppF6i
— Angela Relucio (@angelarelucio) October 8, 2015
Happy World “Zombie” Day to us! #WorldZombieDay #TheWalkingDead #TWD pic.twitter.com/nlX3yrfFvG — The Walking Dead AMC (@WalkingDead_AMC) October 8, 2015
TWD is based on Kirkman’s comic book series and follows a band of people fighting their way through a gritty, post-apocalyptic Georgia. Their depraved new world teems with grisly, flesh-eating zombies.
Season five of TWD devoured its competition, averaging 14.4 million viewers per episode and 9.4 million adults aged 18-49. That figure positioned it as the most popular television program among the demographic.
“It’s an irresistible combination” – Debra Yeo
Yeo said it’s a juicy mixture of components that makes the show so appealing to viewers.
“It’s a character-driven show, so you can really dig into the characters and care about them, but you also have a lot of action in the form of the walkers, how people run into the walkers, and how the characters defend themselves from other people,” she said.
The 90-minute season 6 premiere airs on Sunday at 9 p.m. on AMC.