'The Walking Dead' season 4: This week's EW cover

The zombies are back! Okay, to be fair, they never really left. But after a season in which the survivors on The Walking Dead were more concerned with the human threat of the Governor than the flesh-eaters right outside their prison gates, the biters will be taking center stage again when the AMC hit returns in mid-October for season 4. “The first episode, we had days where there were 150 walkers,” brags exec producer and zombie makeup guru Greg Nicotero.

But while herds of zombies may be attacking from the outside, there will also be a mysterious menace to deal with from the inside. What is it, and how will the prison gang defend themselves against it? “The new threat is something you can’t just stab in the face,” says new showrunner Scott M. Gimple. “You can’t talk sense to it. You can’t make a truce with it. It’s beyond all that. It would be a threat in any world, but in this world it is much more terrifying.” Yikes!

That sounds like bad news for our heroes. But the good news for us is that they at least survived long enough to pose for a series of new Entertainment Weekly covers offering a new exclusive sneak peek at season 4 of the zombie drama. Which cover would you pick? Are you all about the gun-and-knife-toting Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln)? How about the motorcycle-straddling, poncho-wearing Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus)? Or perhaps brooding child soldier Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) is more up your alley. Well, here’s the best news of all: You don’t have to choose! You can see the two additional covers below!

And that’s not all. You can also enjoy an exclusive video of Norman Reedus from our photo shoot talking all about Daryl Dixon’s love life (or lack of one) right now on EW’s Facebook page.

For more on The Walking Dead — and all three special issue covers — check out this week’s issue of Entertainment Weekly, on newsstands Friday, July 19.