Walking Dead's Latest Promotion? Pranks That Scare the Hell Out of People!

AMC decided to go with a terrifying viral marketing trick

By Jenna Mullins Feb 07, 2014 11:31 PMTags
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You know how most New Yorkers have this constant fear that the sidewalk grates will collapse underneath them while they're going for a nice walk? Well, it turns out they have one more thing to worry about concerning those grates: zombies.

(For the record, yes, we still hate prank videos, but everyone loves The Walking Dead, right? So this is kind of OK?)

AMC's hit series The Walking Dead wanted to do something fun to promote their midseason premiere (airing Sunday, Feb. 9), so they decided to put a bunch of actors in all the zombie makeup fixings and drop them underneath the sidewalk grates to scare the s--t out of unsuspecting pedestrians in Manhattan's Union Square. 

Most New York inhabitants like to think they're pretty jaded and have seen it all. They don't look so jaded when bloody, mangled hands are reaching from underneath the sidewalk to grab their ankles! Hey, NYCers don't want to be dragged down into the zombie underworld to be feasted on! This is no time for a blasé attitude! 

Anyway, the reaction is pretty priceless. Some networks want to spoil their viewers when it comes to promotional materials, but AMC just wants to frighten its audience nearly to death. And we applaud them.

Watch the prank footage below (the fun starts 45 seconds in), and prepare for more scares, zombies and Andrew Lincoln eye-f--king the camera when The Walking Dead returns this weekend.