The Walking Dead is back this Sunday, so we’ll be able to see Rick Grimes stab zombies in the head with a shiv once more while his son walks about, looking moody, constantly trying to prove himself.

The Walking DeadChandler Riggs' Carl is not really fussed by zombies any more - not even looking

To celebrate this (market this), AMC have put some zombies under a subway grate to scare the bejeezus out of unsuspecting New Yorkers. Manhattan's Union Square was infested with zombie extras, reaching out to grab the ankles of commuters, tourists, homeless people and joggers.

That’ll teach you for going jogging in Union Sq., won’t it.

Of course, any video of innocent people running away, terrified for their own safety is going to garner ‘viral’ status pretty quickly, but throw in the zombies and you’re on to marketing gold.

In the video, you can see the amazing lengths AMC went to to make this thing happen.

From the painstaking make up rituals to the actual act of getting people into a subway grate, they were determined to scare New Yorkers. And scare them they did; some were simply reduced to screaming, others ran for their very lives.

They even managed to scare a dog, and it’s pretty lucky that dog wasn’t the ‘I’ll bite that’ type of dog.

The best reaction, though, belonged to the guy who saw the zombies, seemed nonplussed, then pointed assertively and said, “awesome”. Now there’s a fan of the Walking Dead if we’ve ever seen one – a lover of the un-dead and basically desensitised.

The Walking Dead took a break a-la Breaking Bad for season four, deciding to split the run into two halves, the second of which kicks off this Sunday, with many fans ready to resume the zombie epic after episode 8 ended with an almighty bang.

Danai GuriraDanai Gurira is Michonne, and she walks about like this