“Fear the Walking Dead,” the much-anticipated spinoff to AMC’s hit zombie series “The Walking Dead,” will air in August.

For a while now, the hype surrounding the upcoming series has been curiously about how low key, less fearfully paced and even family-oriented the show is going to be. But viewers wouldn’t be able to gather that from the new promo released for the horror drama.


The clip shows Nick (Frank Dillane), who on the series plays a dropout and a junkie, running down an alley and into a street so scared his pants almost fall off.

"Fear the Walking Dead" will reportedly build its tension around a new family trying to come together as the world is on the brink of being overrun by infectious animated corpses.

Robert Kirkman describes the charcter of Nick in Entertainment Weekly as “pretty much a parent’s worst nightmare.”

“He has flunked out of college, had a lot of trouble, got mixed up in some bad elements, and is definitely the problem child,” the 36-year-old comic book writer and show creator said.

There seems to be an aura of menace surrounding the actor who plays Nick in real life as well.

An article on the 24-year-old London-born actor published in Interview magazine revealed he is at least clumsy enough around alcohol to have once required stitches and that he often has dreams involving Satan.

Readying himself for his role on “Fear the Walking Dead,” he read up on his subject, studying Thomas De Quincey's notorious late Georgian era drug memoir, “Confessions of an English Opium-Eater.”

"My character is debating whether he's insane or not," Dillane said.

In the interview, the young actor sounds utterly committed to his craft. Preparing for his role in the upcoming Ron Howard movie “In the Heart of the Sea,” where apparently his character goes hungry, Dillane took his body to the brink and appears to have regrets about that.

"I'm such an idiot that I took the whole starving thing a bit too far," Dillane said. "No food, two hours in the gym, and 14 hours on a boat every day takes its toll. Everything that is an unnecessary perk goes out the window -- sexual libido, peace of mind, and then happiness."