On Aug. 30, the world of horror as we know it got a little less spine tingling.

American actor, writer and film director Wes Craven, 76, passed away, leaving horror fans heart-broken. Craven died in his home in Los Angeles after a fight with brain cancer.

Although many know his contri­butions to the film industry, some people might not have been blessed growing up with this “slasher-scene savant,” and some credit is due.

For those who are horror-film illiterate, Wes Craven is the mas­termind behind an onslaught of gory greats, “Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Scream” being the most notable.

This man is not just a great film maker. He is also the cause of not one, but two key moments in horror-movie history. He defined a generation of horror twice. Not many reach that honor even once.

Craven started out his career by writing, directing and editing his first feature film, “The Last House on the Left,” which had audiences paralyzed in fear.

After his film de­but in 1972, Cra­ven released his big hit “Night­mare on Elm Street.” Even if you are not a fan of the horror genre, every­one knows who Freddy Krueger is and chills are s ent d o w n t h e s p i n e thinking about the clawed creature of the dream world.

I will also remind you that without Craven and Freddy, there would be no Johnny Depp, since Craven first discovered the then-unknown ac­tor for the film.

After the 80’s passed, Cra­ven took some time to change the game of the horror scene and created “Scream” in 1996 for a new generation of hor­ror moviegoers, which not only had them screaming, but screaming for more. People were terrified of this film because the mastermind that is Wes Craven did something that no one had thought of before.

He took a store-bought costume, which was a simple black cloth and white face without any gore, and based the character “Ghostface” off of it, showing that anyone can put on a mask and be a killer.

Craven went on to direct the next couple of “Scream” movies to continue scaring potential trick-or-treaters.

Scream is successful to this day with its ongo­ing movie franchise. The movie also spurred a series of parody films, known as “Scary Movie.” There is even a television show of “Scream” run­ning currently.

Craven continued other projects like directing films for Miramax and later wrote his novel “The Fountain Society.”

Craven created other psychologi­cal thrillers like “Red Eye” (2005), while producing remakes of some of his older works like 2006’s “The Hills Have Eyes” and 2009’s “The Last House on the Left.”

His legend will live on— either through the magic of movies for years to come or in our nightmares. One thing is for sure, I will be going to bed tonight dreaming of Freddy, but with a smile on my face.