Victor Miller, Original Friday the 13th Screenwriter, Dies at 86

Victor Miller, the screenwriter of the 1980 horror classic Friday the 13th, has died at age 86, with his death confirmed by his son and reported by multiple outlets. While best known for creating Jason Voorhees and Pamela Voorhees, Miller also had a long career in daytime television, contributing to All My Children, Guiding Light, One Life to Live, Another World, and General Hospital, earning three Daytime Emmy Awards. Reports place his death in Alameda, California, around August 31, 2026, and the cause has not been disclosed publicly. Miller's role in shaping the Friday the 13th franchise extended beyond the film, as he fought for rights to his source material and retained ownership in a later legal ruling. Coverage notes that he did not intend for Jason to become the later sequels’ hockey-masked villain and remained largely detached from those iterations. He is survived by his wife, two sons, and a grandson, and tributes from fans and horror professionals have poured in.