The long wait is almost over. In less than six weeks, "The Walking Dead" will return to AMC for its season 8 run and apparently, things are about to get even more intense.

In an interview with TV Line, "The Walking Dead" showrunner Scott Gimple said the next season will have a much faster pace than previous ones and promises it is going to be quite an intense ride. It will also feature some new character pairings.

"We'll see characters affect one another that we haven't seen affect one another before, or even just thrown together that we haven't seen thrown together," Gimple, 46, said. "That's been really satisfying."

Gimple went ahead to say that every episode of "The Walking Dead" season 8 is intense and emotional in its own ways. It will also feature more characters rather than focusing on a select few at a time.

"Because of the narrative that we're following, the story this season is really spread out among all of the characters," Gimple added. "The story shifts quite a bit in single episodes between lots of different characters on a consistent basis."

For those who are unfamiliar, "The Walking Dead" season 8 will adapt the "All Out War" arc from the comics. In it, the survivors of Alexandria – including Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan), and Michonne (Danai Gurira) – go up against the Saviors and the Scavengers.

On top of that, the next installment will also shed more light on Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) back story. Not much is known about this villainous character, other than he dedicates his iconic weapon – a barb wired baseball bat – to his deceased wife, Lucille.

"The Walking Dead" season 8 will premiere on Oct. 22, Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC. While waiting, fans can check out the season 7 finale below.