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Tributes are pouring in for Wes Craven, the horror maestro, who has died aged 76 following brain cancer.

Robert Englund, who played Freddy in Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street movies, tweeted: “RIP Wes Craven, my director, my friend. A brilliant, kind, gentle and very funny man. A sad day on Elm St and everywhere. I’ll miss him.”

Fellow director Joe Dante hailed him as “a pioneer in the genre” while John Carpenter noted, “My friend Wes has left us too soon. He was truly an Old School director. I had a great time directing him. I’m REALLY gonna miss him.”

The New York Times described him as “a Master of Slasher Horror Films” and quotes Craven’s own description of the genre: “Horror movies have to show us something that hasn’t been shown before so that the audience is completely taken aback. You see, it’s not just that people want to be scared; people are scared.”

Craven was born in 1939 and briefly taught English before entering the movie business. His early work included Last House on the Left and The Hills Have Eyes. 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street established him firmly in the pantheon of horror directors, with Scream in 1996 deconstructing the genre.