Wes Craven Dead at 76: Director Helped Create Scream, Nightmare on Elm Street and Other Horror Films

Writer passed away after a battle with brain cancer

Hollywood has lost one very special director.

Wes Craven passed away Sunday afternoon after battling brain cancer, his family confirmed to E! News. He was 76 and died at his Los Angeles home in the presence of his family.

For many moviegoers, Craven helped popularize a new style of bloody horror movies that emerged in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

The Scream movies, The Last House on the Left and The People Under the Stairs were just some of the slasher films that earned success. In fact, Craven was hard at work until the very end as he recently signed an overall television deal with Universal Cable Productions with projects for the SyFy Network.

As soon as the news broke, Hollywood couldn't help but express their condolences on social medial.  

Outside of the big and small screen, Craven's family wanted fans to know that the brilliant director was a nature lover and a committed bird conservationist. "Our hearts are broken," the family concluded in their statement. 

Craven's most recent production The Girl in the Photographs starring Kal Penn will premiere as part of "Midnight Madness" at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

—Reporting by Holly Passalaqua