The Walking Dead's James Allen McCune Admitted He Had Nightmares After The Show

There is nothing like those classic early seasons of "The Walking Dead" in terms of not only gore but emotional trauma. Season 2 is particularly famous for its compelling drama, which descends into a massive bloodbath in the final episodes. While the Greenes survive the destruction of their farm, the same can't be said for Beth's (Emily Kinney) poor boyfriend, Jimmy. Played by James Allen McCune, the farm hand is a familiar face in the background until the end of the season. As McCune told fans in a 2011 Reddit AMA, his screen encounters with zombies haunted him in real life too.

"I think everyone [has nightmares]," McCune told one fan who reported being haunted by zombies in their dreams. "It's one thing to watch a show and get scared, but to see these monsters for entire weeks at a time up close, and to LIVE the situation really messes with your head. There's some stuff towards the end of this season that kept me up at night for a long time." Judging how Jimmy went out in the end, it's not exactly a surprise.

Season 2 contains some of the most heartbreaking moments on "The Walking Dead." After a season of searching for Carol's (Melissa McBride) daughter Sophia (Madison Litz), they discover she had been in the barn, a zombie, the entire time. But the hits keep on coming. It is frankly a relief when the increasingly unhinged Shane (Jon Bernthal) finally bites it, for example. Yet Jeffrey DeMunn's exit as Dale Horvath was not only a surprise to comic readers, but a truly nauseating display of blood and guts. 

"Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman told MTV News that when breaking Season 2, they realized they needed a tragic end to one of their principal cast. "[W]e've never really had a zombie actually take down one of our main characters — at least not for a while, not since the first season," he explained. "We wanted to remind people how dangerous these creatures are." The season's long list of casualties also included Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince), Patricia (Jane McNeill), and Jimmy, of course. Becoming walker fodder was probably the most traumatizing for James Allen McCune, as he spent his final moments screaming in terror. No wonder the poor guy had nightmares after that.