In the Letter Hacks section of The Walking Dead issue number 99, Dan Buffaloe from Nashville coined a rather shocking prediction. 

In his correspondence, Dan comes up with an unusual theory about the way that Carl Grimes (played by Chandler Riggs in the AMC series) should die in the Robert Kirkman’s comic book series. 

He writes: “The end of issue 100 will be your finest cliffhanger.

“We will turn to the last page of issue 100 to see Carl getting bitten by a walker, and it’ll be somewhere that amputation isn’t an option… I’m thinking on the side around his ribs. 

“Oh, the people will wail and whine, and swear that you are a sadistic f***er (not that I disagree on that point) and that they’ll never read TWD again. 

“The uproar will be huge. Fans who’ve been reading since the start will curse you and sell off their whole collections. 

“You will sit there at your desk tapping the tips of your fingers together saying ‘excellent’ like Mr Burns. And I’m sure a lot of weirdos out there will thank you.”

Fans of The Walking Dead will recall that the very same cliffhanger happened at the end of season eight’s first half late last year.

What’s more, Dan has an idea of how the storyline will progress - and it has heartbreaking consequences for Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln).

He continues: “Issue 101 ends with another great cliffhanger. 

“After the whole issue dealing with Rick coming to terms with Carl dying, we turn to the last page to find a beautiful two page spread of Rick holding his gun to Carl’s head while he sleeps.”

This comes as Carl’ death on the show has prompted a big change ahead of his emotional exit. 

It has been confirmed that the youngster’s last episode will be the midseason premiere. 

The instalment will last for 82 minutes, instead of the normal 60. 

It is believed the extra 22 minutes will be used to address the loss of such a major character. 

The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday 25th February in the US and will air in the UK a day later on FOX UK.