"There are samurai [sword]-wielding characters that are turning up," says Andrew Lincoln, the British actor who plays Southern cop Rick Grimes, the leader of the non-zombified "Walking Dead"-ers.
The third season finds the survivors holing up in a prison for safety.
"It's a journey into the unknown, and it's a huge, huge gamble, but it just shows how desperate they are," he said. "The pace of (season three) is darker, harder, faster, deeper."
Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl Dixon, calls the new season "ominous, dark and gloomy," and teases that "people start losing their minds, love blossoms and (there are) a whole lot of gross zombie kills."
The season premiere will be directed by Ernest Dickerson, who also directed the season two finale. Show runner Glen Mazzara says fans can also look forward to more of Michone (Danai Gurira), who saved Andrea (Laurie Holden) from some ravenous walkers in the season two ender.
"Just from the beginning of this, you see completely changed characters,"adds Lauren Cohan says, who plays Maggie Greene.
