Actor Norman Reedus

The Season 6 premiere of The Walking Dead is to be 90 minutes long and will air Oct. 11, AMC announced.

As in previous seasons, the show's upcoming package of 16 episodes will air in two parts, with the first eight episodes kicking off this fall and the second run of eight starting in February.

The network previewed a gasp-inducing, 4-minute trailer for the new season at San Diego Comic-Con. It has been viewed more than 1.8 million times since it was posted on YouTube Friday.

In addition to featuring hundreds of ravenous zombies, the clip shows an increasingly violent Rick [played by Andrew Lincoln] struggling to take control of the Alexandria Safe Zone and appearing to lose support from his close friends Daryl [played by Norman Reedus] and Morgan [played by Lennie James.]