Since the start of “The Walking Dead,” viewers have spent countless hours memorizing lines and turning themselves into walkers. According to the Nielsen company, the premiere of the series’ fourth season had 16.1 million viewers, which surpassed the previous season’s 12.4 million viewers. Fans, however, don’t have to wait for the new spinoff series, scheduled for 2015, to engage in their favorite show; there are opportunities to enjoy the growing franchise before then. One such event was a walker convention, held in Atlanta Nov. 1–3 at the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel and adjoining Americas Mart.

The Atlanta-based convention was created by “Walker Stalkers” Eric Nordhoff and James Frazier, who got this name from a road trip they took from Nashville, Tenn., to Georgia to see the series being filmed. The convention was called Walker Stalker Con; the final attendance numbers have yet to be released, but the convention was expected to draw over 10,000 participants.

The convention featured appearances from the show’s characters–Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon), Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) and Lauren Cohan (Maggie Greene). It also featured a one-man stage play.

Robert Singleton, also known as T-Dog, played 18 characters in a one-man stage play called “Blindsided by the Walking Dead,” where he told the story of how he grew up in Atlanta during its crack cocaine epidemic before he found work as an actor. Other characters will include a thug, a crack addict and Singleton’s deceased mother.

Those who could not make it to the convention can still travel to Grantville, Ga., any Saturday and take a tour of the where the episode “Clear” was filmed. Fans can also watch the episode at Station 22 Grill. Tours are given in Atlanta, Senoia and Haralson. In Haralson, fans can enter the barn that was in an ambush scene and hold an M16 out of the window like a character from the show.