Wes Craven (1939-2015)

Director and writer WES CRAVEN, 76, died August 30, 2015 of brain cancer at home in Los Angeles.

Though best known for the horror films he wrote and directed, he published one novel, SF thriller Fountain Society (1999), about a scientist who has his brain transplanted into a cloned body. Craven’s directorial debut was The Last House on the Left (1972), and he wrote or directed other horror films including A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Scream (1996) — both of which spawned long-running popular franchises — The Serpent and the Rainbow (1988), The People Under the Stairs (1991), and many others. Earlier this year it was announced that Craven planned to write and direct a pilot for a series based on Daryl Gregory’s We Are All Completely Fine (2014).

Wesley Earl Craven was born August 2, 1939 in Cleveland OH. He studied English and psychology at Wheaton College in Illinois, and earned a master’s in philosophy and writing at Johns Hopkins. He briefly taught college before turning to cinema, and he worked on more than 50 features as a writer, director, or producer. With writer Steve Niles he created comic book mini-series Coming of Rage (2014).

See the October issue of Locus for a complete obituary.