The Walking Dead returns to AMC this very Sunday, Feb. 8, which means it’s time for all the fans and the haters to ceremoniously unite under the non-metaphorical version of American culture’s television mistletoe, because, for some reason, it doesn’t really matter if you actually like this show. You’re going to watch it anyway, if for no other reason than Rick Grimes’ fascinating facial hair and the power that Carl’s mop draws from it. Turns out there is magic in this world, just not the traditional, shoot a fireball kind. It’s about hair and miraculous ratings, people. In addition to the zombies, of course.

Like a zombie apocalypse, it pays to be prepared for such an event. And by prepared, I’m referring to the buying of random things show off to your people either through social networks or that strange, awkward place – the physical world. It starts, as it commonly does, with the undead adornments.

Shirts for Team Daryl

Short of purchasing a crossbow, the best way to express your Daryl Dixon love is to display it proudly to the world on a shirt, as if wearing a shirt with a man’s face on it should in no way reflect on your character. Because it shouldn’t, especially if it’s Daryl, who shines so brightly as to dispel all forms of reflective criticisms. He is an angel of the apocalypse and shall be treasured as one.

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View on Amazon

Bath Robes for Team Rick

Do you think about zombies in the shower? You do? You have a problem, but it probably isn’t one that can be fixed by any normal means. Instead of fixing your problem, indulge in it with these strange bath robes currently on offer through Amazon. What wearing the Rick-themed bath robe says about you is quite obvious – you believe you’d be that one indomitable leader come our zombie apocalypse. Good for you. If it’s the other robe you’re after, yours is a more existential quandary, no doubt. Or you just have a thing for Harry Potter dementors.

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Know Your Walking Dead Meme

Over the course of a season, images and GIFs will pop up on the web detailing in innumerable ways the inherent humor of some of the more ridiculous moments in The Walking Dead. You could simply search ‘The Walking Dead meme’ on Google and come up with your own gems. You could just scroll down. There’s this, from the infamous episode The Grove:

And then there’s this, crossing a couple of silly stuff:

Which segues really nicely into this, a masterful Photoshop production:

In the end, though, it’s all about one thing. Rick just loves to call out his boy’s name, over and over and over again, as if saying it enough times will turn him into a respectable man. It won’t. He’ll always be the kid who got shot through a deer.

The Best Figures of The Walking Dead

The McFarlane line of The Walking Dead figures and figurines runs a really nice balance between affordability and high-detail.

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View on Amazon

As always, there’s the Funko POP! Figurines route, which presents us with perhaps the world’s only adorable one-legged man.

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Other Ways to Play With the Dead

If you want to call yourself a true fan of The Walking Dead, you’ll sadly need to branch away from the beautiful television people, into other mediums. There are many ways to go about this, but the only two of any quality are the comic book series the show is based on, naturally, and the video game series focused on the one thing most zombie video games completely forget – story.

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The Telltale Games series completed its second season last year. The explosive popularity of those games has spawned a number of other narrative-focused game series based on previously existing properties, most notably Game of Thrones. Nevertheless, the protagonists of the Walking Dead, Clementine and Lee, should serve as a great introduction to the nuance Telltale can bring to the table. It’s heart-wrenching stuff.

As for Compendium One of the comic book series, this is the only reason the TV show exists, so show so damn respect. All that emotional turmoil set to assault you this Sunday was born from the minds behind those comics. They’re the reason this happened, too:

Everything You Need for the Return of The Walking Dead

With World War Z inbound in cinemas worldwide, questions abound.  How did the war start? Who survived? Did we win? Does the movie hold a candle to the book? Why is there a cat in the movie poster?

Still, with the early word that the movie acquits itself better than its trailers, I believe that we have found the most tasteful way to celebrate World War Z with some “Limited Edition” World War Z poster prints based on various licensed covers from printings of the book worldwide.  That’s right, there are more to book covers than just the “normal” and “movie” versions.

These prints are $12 apiece, but they are currently on backorder. Nevertheless, Think Geek is taking orders, which should mean that the posters are not yet sold out.

Now, having embraced a tasteful appreciation and interpretation of Max Brooke’s excellent faux zombie war documentary, it is time to answer another important question.  This is a question posed and answered by the gents of AwfulDJ, so you can expect it to be awfully funny.

The question is, isn’t the movie trailer for World War Z sublimely telling the story of The Weather Girls’ It’s Raining Men?

Hallelujah, that song makes just about anything funny, even a tragic zombie-filled struggle for humanity.  And if it has not been pointed out already, everyone should check out the original and classic War World Z.

Never Forget World War Z with These Haunting Prints

Developed by photographer Santlov, this series of photos takes traditional Marvel superheroes and combines them with zombies from universes like The Walking Dead. Characters that have been converted into terrifying zombies include Iron Man, Spider-Man, the Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Wolverine.

In addition to the Marvel zombie series, Santlov also does a ton of work with other pop culture figures. For instance, one photo combines characters from the Toy Story universe (Woody and Buzz) with John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson’s characters in Pulp Fiction. Other television and movie characters included within his work include the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain Jack Sparrow, the Joker, Bane, Daffy Duck, Wall-E, Mickey Mouse, Gollum, Bender and various stormtroopers.

Check out some of our favorite shots from the Marvel Zombie series below. You can also check out Santlov’s entire portfolio on Instagram here.

Zombie Avengers

Hulk

Iron Man

Spider-man

Thor

Wolverine

Which photo is the most terrifying?

Marvel Superheroes as Terrifying Zombies