The body count continues to swell. Every character is pushed well beyond their limits. Season three of AMC's hit horror series "The Waking Dead" is piling the tension so thick it practically dares viewers to keep watching.

A study on the power of humanity, the first five episodes of season three have packed in just as much brutality and menace as they have mined those same moments for universal truths.

We've already lost Lori, T-Dog, possibly Carol, and even Hershel's leg, and as we became more familiar with Woodbury in episode five, we lost Michonne to the road as well.

Replete with zombie gladiator matches, and walkers kept in secret for scientific experiments, the new safe haven found by Andrea and Michonne proved just as dangerous as Michonne claimed she could tell it was. Like the man who rules the town, dread is brewing just below the surface of Woodbury.

"That's a very jarring and bizarre thing to go from this idealistic community of peace and solitude to seeing this very bizarre way of letting off steam and this very bizarre form of entertainment," said creator Robert Kirkman in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

He continued, "It's very primal, and it kind of goes back to older human civilizations and calls back to ways we used to do things. It's definitely staged and something that is done for entertainment. Whether it remains that way throughout the season remains to be seen, but this is something that Woodbury has established and that Andrea is somewhat uncomfortable with. She's found that thing that does make her think twice and go, 'Hey, wait a minute, maybe there was something to what Michonne was saying.' What she does with this knowledge is something we'll find out going forward."

Based off the monthly black-and-white comic book series written by creator Kirkman, "The Walking Dead" follows a gang of lost souls just trying to survive day-to-day life in a post-apocalyptic U.S. overrun with the living dead. The show is striking its own path at this point, deviating at free will from the narrative in the comics, but still includes a fair amount of detail from the source material.

The fifth episode's surreal final moments could provide yet another possible gateway into the world of the comics, Kirkman recently revealed.

After an hour that found Rick seeking catharsis via gruesome displays of violence on walkers, the phone rang near the boiler room where Lori died. But was the phone call just in his mind? Readers of the comics might remember that after Lori's death, Rick continued to talk to her through imaginary phone calls in his head.

When asked if we could see that element playing out in the show, Kirkman responded to the Hollywood Reporter with a laugh and said, "There are certain hints to certain storylines that you can get from the comic book series. I'm not going to reveal one way or another, but there's a chance that if you have taken the time to go out and buy the comics, you may have a leg up on the television show. But I'm not going to say anything."

Can we expect this to continue? "He's definitely not in a good place. This is a guy who has had the weight of this entire world on his shoulders for a very long time, and what we've witnessed in this last episode and the one before it is his breaking point. And now that he's broken, it's a question of whether or not he comes back from that or if he continues to go down the dark path. That's what we'll be seeing moving forward.

Creator Kirkman has confirmed the third season's 16 episodes will be split into two halves with the first eight episodes premiering every Sunday through Dec. 2, 2012, and the other eight episodes set to air in early spring 2013.

With only three episodes left before the mid-season break, we're betting on an epic showdown between a newly unhinged Rick, Michonne, and The Governor and the rest of Woodbury. Could episode six set the stage for the confrontation to follow? Michonne took off from the rest of the pack in episode five, is she really free of Woodbury now that she's left?

"I would say that this is a very dangerous show. The thought of her leaving and being completely safe doesn't seem to fit in my mind with how things are going," quipped Kirkman in response to whether or not Michonne was free of Merle and The Governor after leaving.

He continued, "If I were you, I would pay attention in the next episode."

Episode six of season three, "Hounded," airs Sunday Nov. 11 at 9/8c on AMC.