It will never NOT be cool to dress as a zombie on Halloween. Especially if you take your undead makeup tips from the world’s foremost professional on fake rotting skin, open wounds and mealy mouths: Greg Nicotero, the Emmy-winning special effects artist and co-executive producer of AMC’s The Walking Dead.

Greg and his cohort Andy posted this how-to video a good month after Halloween last year, so even though the video is a bit old, this is the first time that we can actually use his tips on All Hallow’s Eve. Check out the tutorial, full of surprising, easy and helpful tips for how to be the most convincing zombie at the monster mash:

Oatmeal as rotting skin? BRILLIANT.

The great thing about this tutorial is that it works not just for Halloween, but for ALL the holidays. Show up to family Thanksgiving as a zombie turkey. Surprise your little sister on Christmas morning as Zombie Santa Claus. Wake your lover on Valentine’s Day as the undead version of the man she once thought she might want to marry. Oh, the possibilities.

Check out sneak peeks from the next Walking Dead episode, “Save the Last One,” which airs the night before Halloween, this Sunday, October 30 at 9pm.

(Image courtesy of AMC)

Meghan Carlson

Senior Writer, BuddyTV

Meghan hails from Walla Walla, WA, the proud home of the world’s best sweet onions and Adam West, the original Batman. An avid grammarian and over-analyzer, you can usually find her thinking too hard about plot devices in favorites like The OfficeIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and How I Met Your Mother. In her spare time, Meghan enjoys drawing, shopping, trying to be funny (and often failing), and not understanding the whole Twilight thing. She’s got a BA in English and Studio Art from Whitman College, which makes her a professional arguer, daydreamer, and doodler.