Behind the scenes of "The Walking Dead"

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Behind the scenes of "The Walking Dead"

AMC's "The Walking Dead" returns Sunday, zombies and all. So how do the living become the undead?

AMC's critically acclaimed original series, "The Walking Dead," is back with its much anticipated second season. When we last left "The Walking Dead," the characters were in the midst of a high-intensity struggle to survive, fleeing the CDC as it burst into flames. In Season 2, they are still on the move, facing more threats and obstacles than ever. Season 2 premieres with a 90-minute episode on Sun., Oct. 16. - AMC AMC

"Threats and obstacles" being defined somewhat more specifically as the flesh-eating zombies now roaming Georgia, where the series is based. AMC

Based on one of the most successful and popular comic books of all time, written by Robert Kirkman, AMC's "The Walking Dead" captures the ongoing human drama following a zombie apocalypse. The series follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln (right), who are traveling in search of a safe and secure home. Jon Bernthal (left) plays Shane Walsh, Rick's sheriff's department partner before the apocalypse. - AMC AMC

However, instead of the zombies, it is the living who remain that truly become the walking dead. - AMC AMC

Actors Scott Wilson, right, and Andrew Lincoln appear in a scene from the second season of the AMC original series, "The Walking Dead, " in Senoia, Ga. AMC

Actors Laurie Holden, Norman Reedus, Jon Bernthal, Melissa Suzanne McBride, Sarah Wayne Callies and Chandler Riggs (left to right) appear in the second season premiere of "The Walking Dead," which is set (and filmed) in Georgia. AMC

So what goes into the makings of a "Walking Dead" zombie? (Besides flesh?) Plenty of makeup. And time. AMC

First of all, any zombie worth his or her blank stare must have the choppers worthy of an undead soul. AP

It takes about three hours to turn the living into the undead. AP

The quite alive Kevin Galbraith of Marietta, Ga., undergoes a make-up session to transform into his zombie character with the help of effects make-up artists Andy Schoneberg, right, and Kevin Wasner, left, on the set of "The Walking Dead." AP

Special makeup is applied to Kevin's face in order to give him a more "gaunt" appearance. AP

"The Walking Dead" recently won the Emmy award for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Miniseries, Movie or a Special. - AMC AP

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AMC's critically acclaimed original series, "The Walking Dead," is back with its much anticipated second season. When we last left "The Walking Dead," the characters were in the midst of a high-intensity struggle to survive, fleeing the CDC as it burst into flames. In Season 2, they are still on the move, facing more threats and obstacles than ever. Season 2 premieres with a 90-minute episode on Sun., Oct. 16. - AMC AMC

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