The Walking Dead: Greg Nicotero featured a Freddy Krueger walker in the final season

Eagle-eyed viewers of The Walking Dead always spot the most amazing Easter Eggs in the series. In season 11, episode 17, “Lockdown,” directed by Greg Nicotero, who is also in charge of the SFX for the series, fans saw a fantastic Easter Egg perfect for the Halloween season.

Nicotero and his crew treated fans to a look-alike walker that resembled the popular slasher movie villain, Freddy Krueger. The team used the look from the original film A Nightmare on Elm Street, released in 1984.  If you look closely at the behind-the-scenes photo, you can see the outstanding detail they put into this walker. And upon future inspection, you can see the trademark red and green striped sweater. In the scene, you can also see a distressed glove. (check it out at about the 31-minute mark). Nicotero gave shoutouts to Gino Crognale and Mikey Rotella, who assisted in creating this magnificent walker.

The Walking Dead – Greg Nicotero

Nicotero was involved with The Walking Dead series since before it was greenlit. He has a lot of history with the series and has contributed significantly to making it one of the best series out there. He was pleased to join this series as the creators “grasped how unique zombie mythology is.” He also had the honor of directing the final episode of the series, "Rest in Peace," which aired on November 20, 2022.

Over the years, he has portrayed walkers in several episodes, including Daryl Dixon’s (Norman Reedus) first walker kill. This was in the second episode of the first season of the series “Tell It to the Frogs,” when Daryl came upon the walker eating the deer he had been tracking. That was Nicotero in complete SFX as a walker. Bringing the story full circle, Nicotero would also portray a walker in Daryl's final scene of the series.

Throughout the 12-year run of the series Nicotero featured numerous "tribute" walkers, several of which were highlighted in an article by Makeup Dept. Mastery. The series has also featured several notable cameos, many of which were unrecognizable as they portrayed walkers.

Follow Undead Walking on Twitter and sign up for the once-daily Undead Walking newsletter to avoid missing out on all things in The Walking Dead universe.