Artery, Blood, Cutting... Attack, Beheading, Cannibal... An alphabet you didn't learn from Sesame Street is currently in the works, collating 26 short films by 26 globe-spanning directors into one gloriously messy ABCs of Death.

Springing from Drafthouse Films and their happy experiences making friends at Fantastic Fest, the project is "an anthology showcasing death in all its vicious wonder and brutal beauty." Producer Ant Timpson says he was inspired by his sons and their pre-school books. "The idea of subverting that format to reveal a study in all the dastardly and humorous ways a person can leave this world appealed on multiple levels," he explains. "It was somewhat fitting to learn that the earliest forms of the ABCs books actually did use fear of punishment to teach the young."

We're already kind of alarmed by the premise, and positively apprehensive given some of the names already involved. A random glance down the list gives us Jason Eisener (Hobo With a Shotgun), Gadi Harel and Marcel Sarmiento (Deadgirl), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police), Srdjan Spasojevic (A Serbian Film), and Ti West (The House of the Devil)... and that's only a 23% sample.

Each director will get the same budget, and will have six months, six weeks and six days to complete their assignment. The production is encouraging competitive one-upmanship, so expect some extremely creative viscera. 

The 26th director will be the winner of a global competition, so keep an eye on the official website if you fancy your chances.