'The Walking Dead' comes alive in auction for 15-year anniversary

The eerie zombies from "The Walking Dead" first stepped into viewers' living rooms on Halloween nearly 15 years ago, unknowingly ushering in a new era for the horror genre. Fans are getting a chance to own some of the franchise's most coveted items.

AMC Networks, in partnership with Heritage Auctions, will be auctioning over 1,000 prop items that span the entire franchise. Online bidding runs until Nov. 1.

Greg Nicotero, the show's special makeup effects supervisor, executive producer and director, has been part of the show since it first went into production. He played a large role in curating the auction, which takes people "on a journey" through the timeline of the franchise, he said, from the first season through the original show's 2022 finale to the various spinoffs that followed.

"It's going to remind people of what a powerhouse the show was," he said. "I'm proud of the fact that we changed the way people make television with this show, and I was part of that.

" The auction has made countless memories bubble to the surface for Nicotero. 

"I think I'm gonna have to buy some stuff," Nicotero said as he browsed the catalog. The special effects master has his eyes on Glenn Rhee's guitar, starting at $1,000. The fan-favorite character, played by Steven Yeun, attempts to play the instrument in an episode in season two.

"It takes those iconic moments, and it grounds them in a reality," Nicotero said. "You're not just seeing it on television, but it's something tangible that you can hold. So that kind of blows me away."

One auction item offers five masks used for the zombies that filled the background of various shots. A pickaxe that Carol Peletier, played by Melissa McBride, used to kill her abusive husband in season one to stop him from turning into a zombie, is another one of Nicotero's favorites.

The highest-priced item starts at $25,000 for the original 1971 Pontiac Tempest, a car featured in the opening minutes of the series premiere. Other items are as low as $500. Nicotero had been in the zombie business for decades before joining "The Walking Dead" team in 2009.

The show, he said, felt revolutionary, but he was initially unsure how viewers would receive it. The show proved to be like "lightning in a bottle," he said. It "did something that most zombie material to that date had never done," he said. "It made you feel something." The zombies come alive in the show, largely due to award-winning makeup and prosthetics, props which are included in the auction.

Nearly 15 years after its premiere and two years since the original series ended, the zombie universe shows no signs of stopping. "The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon," a spinoff that Nicotero also executive produces and has directed episodes for, is currently airing its third season on AMC. "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live," a limited series reuniting characters Rick Grimes and Michonne, aired last year.

Associated Press