AMC will continue to double down on its zombie drama, and Fear the Walking Dead" for a third season.

"Fear," which just debuted its sophomore season on April 10, will return for an additional 16 episodes sometime in 2017.

"What Dave Erickson and Robert Kirkman have invented in 'Fear The Walking Dead' is to be applauded. Watching Los Angeles crumble through the eyes of our characters and seeing each make decisions and try to figure out the rules of their new world – it's fresh, eerie and compelling and we're all in for the ride," said Charlie Collier, president of AMC, SundanceTV and AMC Studios, in a statement. "As Victor Strand observed, 'The only way to survive a mad world is to embrace the madness.' We thank the millions of fans for embracing this mad world and look forward to sailing far into the future."

"Fear" debuted in August 2015 as a so-called "companion series" (not a direct spinoff) to "The Walking Dead," AMC's flagship zombie show. While "Fear" still lags far behind ratings behemoth "TWD" (and returned to significantly fewer viewers than its first season premiere), its season two numbers so far were apparently enough to sway AMC to sign up for more. The Chris Hardwick-hosted "Talking Dead: Fear" recap show was also renewed.

"Fear the Walking Dead" currently airs on AMC on Sunday nights at 9 p.m.

[via: Variety]