This news will come as a shock to no one, but the smash hit AMC horror series The Walking Dead, only two episodes into its second season, has already been renewed for a third season.

The Emmy-winning show based on the comic book series created by Robert Kirkman, who’s also a producer on the show, has scored record numbers in the ratings ever since it returned; over ten million viewers in 122 countries watched the season premiere on October 16, 2011 with seven million in the United States alone.

“Today we are pleased to announce that the “˜dead’ shall live as we proudly renew “˜The Walking Dead’ for a third season on AMC and, globally, with our terrific partners at Fox International Channels,” said American Movie Classics president Charlie Collier in a statement released today.

Fox International Channels premiered The Walking Dead globally and broke pay TV ratings records in many international television markets. Sharon Tal Yguado, Senior Vice-President of Scripted Programming at FIC, said, “Partnering with AMC on “˜The Walking Dead’ took some guts. But at the same time was the easiest programming decision we ever made. It’s rare to come across a groundbreaking TV project that is also attached to some of the best talent in town. “˜The Walking Dead’ was treated as a global event since day one and not only changed the traditional TV model but also changed our viewers’ TV experience. It is now officially a global addiction with millions of fans around the globe wanting more. We are delighted to give it to them.”

Although there has been some major battles going on behind the scenes (which you can read about here), the departure of showrunner Frank Darabont (who was replaced by executive producer Glen Mazzara) doesn’t seem to have affected the overall quality of The Walking Dead, at least not yet. The 90-minute season 2 premiere dragged in spots and spent too much time on a subplot about the search for a missing girl, but the next episode was a vast improvement, benefiting from a tighter pace and a greater emotional depth than the show has demonstrated since the middle of the first season.