By Jillian Tate, YJ Staff Writer
It was dark in the house. The curtains had been closed, the doors locked. The wood of the floor creaked at it settled into place, no one had walked on it for hours. The hands on the clock ticked into the night.
It was disgustingly late. Most would assume anyone in the home would be asleep by now. Those people would be wrong.
While the hallways and upstairs of the old, run down house were dark and soundless, the living room was alive.
Books with yellowing pages and crumpled up covers were stack haphazardly on shelves, waiting patiently to tell their stories to a kind ear. Thick, black bricks of video tapes lined another bookshelf. Some with the beginning of one movie and the ending of another, taped over so many times.
To the outside person, this might be the living room of a pack rat. Maybe the room of a women not willing to let go of her memories. But to the boy sitting on the dark green carpet, eyes wide as he stares at the tiny television screen, this room is a wonderland.
David Brock was the tender age of 10 when he first got addicted to the horror genre. He grew up with it his whole life. His father and sister loved to read horror books and his grandmother collected movie after movie.
It was only a matter of time before Brock became an addict.
It happened when Brock’s father dragged him to an afternoon showing of Nightmare on Elm Street. It was 1984. Brock was a shiny, bright 10 year old, and he did not want to go to this movie.
He expected to sit in a theatre for an hour or so and be bored out of his mind. This movie seemed uninteresting. To please his father, he want anyway.
“That movie changed my life,” Brock said. “It’s what started my obsession.”
Brock went home that evening and started his adventure. He watched all his grandmother’s movies, read all his fathers books, and fell deeper and deeper into an addiction that would push him into a career in film making and teaching.
The works of Steven King kept Brock’s addiction alive through the years. The way King’s mind worked constantly had Brock in awe. Every article, book and movie King had a part in, Brock was all over.
His addiction to horror and his fascination for Steven King are what led Brock to his most important discovery.
“I found out that Steven King sells non-commercial rights to his works for $1. Dollar babies,” Brock said. “On a lark, I bought the screen play for The Green Mile and turned that into my theses project for graduate school. It somehow got nominated for a student academy award.”
Brock was launched into a subtle form of stardom. He spent seven years working for Hollywood. Those years put a sour taste in his mouth which drove him to his next passion. Teaching.
“I had to spend a year teaching to finish graduate school. That’s where I found what I really wanted to do with my life,” Brock said.
The horror addict has taken his addiction to horror, his love for Steven King, his knowledge of dollar babies and the way Hollywood works to formulate some of the most unique classes WVSU has ever seen.
He teaches classes that analyze horror and give students the opportunity to explore their fears. He also teaches production and directing classes using Steven King scripts. He allowed students to bulk up portfolios and put their names next to that of Steven King.
“I just want to do for them what I wish could’ve been done for me,” Brock said.
