The Season 2 cast photos were released ahead of Comic-Con last year, so we've been keeping an eye out for The Walking Dead Season 3 portraits for the last couple of months. We now have the full set of 17 photos for you to check out, and you'll notice that these images are going for a much darker look than the past season.

"AMC announced... the premiere of The Walking Dead Season 3 on Sun., Oct. 14 at 9/8c. As previously announced, the series’ third season will consist of 16 episodes. Season 3 will also air in two-parts with the first eight hours kicking off Oct. 14 and returning Feb. 2013 with the final eight episodes. Following The Walking Dead will be the season premieres of AMC’s unscripted series Talking Dead, hosted by Chris Hardwick (Nerdist), at 11/10c and Comic Book Men at 11:30/10:30c. Season 2 of both series consists of 16 half-hour episodes. Internationally, The Walking Dead will return to audiences in 120+ FOX International Channels (FIC) markets the week of Oct. 15 as part of FIC continued commitment to broadcast the series near date-and-date globally.

We want to give a big thanks to The Huffington Post for the cast portraits. We also thought readers might be interested in this contest from Gale Anne Hurd and Valhalla Entertainment, who will send a lucky winner to The Walking Dead Season 3 premiere:

"Tell all 2 follow @GunnerGale and credit you! Each tweet enters you 2 win a trip to the S3 @WalkingDead_AMC premiere! http://bit.ly/PjV6pV"

In case you missed our recent coverage, some new photos and a trailer have been released. Catch up on those articles and other The Walking Dead Season 3 stories with the following links: