Decalogue of the Constant Reader

Considering most (if not all) of us here are diehard Stephen King fans, I was inspired to write
a Decalogue, that is, a fundamental set of rules for Constant Readers to abide by. I respectfully
submit all items for review except Number 1.


DECALOGUE OF THE CONSTANT READER

1- I, Constant Reader, will love the writing of Stephen King above and beyond the writing of any
other authors of horror past, present and to come.


2- I will not deprecate the writing of Stephen King, be it fiction or nonfiction, or any derivative
work (such as movies, videos, plays, etc.), but will voice my opinion respectfully and with
care.


3- I will give the works of Stephen King supreme eminence on my bookshelves.


4- I will not read any other works of horror unless there is nothing new out by Stephen King.


5- I will reread Stephen King as one who visits an old, familiar friend.


6- I will not sell any signed copy of Stephen King's works, nor will I purchase one on eBay.


7- I will wait forever for Stephen King to finish The Plant.


8- I will approach my first reading of The Stand with reverence, and I will wash my hands

thoroughly before its undertaking.


9- I will be forever grateful to Tabitha King for having rescued the manuscript pages of Carrie
from the trash bin.

10-If Clive Barker is the future of horror, I will consider Stephen King the past and present
horror.

Thanks for the response. This is a work in progress so items are open to review.

DECALOGUE OF THE CONSTANT READER


1- I, Constant Reader, will love the writing of Stephen King above and beyond the writing of any
other authors of horror past, present and to come.

2- I will not deprecate the writing of Stephen King, be it fiction or nonfiction, or any derivative works
(such as movies, videos, plays, etc.), but will voice my opinion respectfully and with care.

3- I will consider Stephen King the past and present of horror, and I will give his works supreme
eminence on my bookshelves.

4- I will consider [your favorite Stephen King title here] his masterpiece, and I will read it with
genuine joy each year.

5- I will not sell any signed copy of Stephen King's works, nor will I purchase one on eBay.

6- I will wait patiently for Stephen King to finish The Plant--even if it takes forever.

7- I will reread Stephen King as many times as Ka-tet wills it. And, if Ka-tet wills it, I will finish
reading every book of his I begin.

8- I will inform the uninitiated and inflame their curiosity, because the reading and discussion of
Stephen King's works has enriched my life.

9- I will be forever grateful to Tabitha King for having rescued the manuscript pages of Carrie
from the trash bin.

10-If Ka-tet wills it, I will wish Stephen King and his works enduring life.

A revised version of the Decalogue is up. Thanks all for your responses and for jump-starting my imagination.

GNTLGNT said:

...his works WILL live on long after the flesh has perished....that is without doubt or reservation...

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Great sentiment, GNTLGNT. Mind if I include "long after the flesh has perished" to fill out Number 10? Thanks.

Cool. And thanks. Number 10 will read: "If Ka-tet wills it, I will wish Stephen King and his works enduring life long after the flesh has perished."

Liselle said:

Good rules but not sure number 4 is feasible (sorry to be a pain because they are very well thought out). If you read the same favourite book each year you will undo the excitement of picking up an old favourite because it will become the norm, but as for the others I shall abide.

Click to expand...

Good point. Will certainly consider it. Thanks.