 The episode was written by Mike Rowe and directed by Aaron Augenblick and series creator Devin Clark . While the series ' first season mainly referenced horror films , " Ride Me to Hell " pays homage to 1970s cop shows . Clark used Grimes unleashing his memories from the 1970s as an opportunity to parody cop shows such as CHiPs and Starsky and Hutch . According to Nielsen Media Research , " Ride Me to Hell " was watched by 814 @,@ 000 viewers in its original airing , a slight drop in total viewership when compared to previous episodes . The episode received positive reviews . 
