The Nine Circles

Our rating system and how it works:

While we don’t consider the material we publish to be anti-family, it is possible that some of the content of the stories we publish could offend those with a sensitive constitution. (We would not recommend any of our stories be used for Little Suzie’s bedtime reading.) Therefore, we have devised a rating system. We call our system ‘The Nine Circles’. Please read this material carefully before finalizing your purchase. As a publisher, we take pride in the accuracy of this system. However, if you do not familiarize yourself with it, it does nobody any good. We hope that you find this guide to be useful. If you have any suggestions or comments you can contact us by emailing hemcvay@circledarkpublishing.net or sabrina@circledarkpublishing.net.

The first five Circles detail the rating system from most innocent to most explicit.

The First Circle
The most innocent of all material we publish, the first circle includes no violence, sex, or disturbing imagery. Such things will not be referenced in the material.

The Second Circle
Not so innocent, the second circle contains references to violence, sex, disturbing imagery, crude language and or other things similar in nature. Though these things may be referenced in the material, they will not comprise more than 10 percent of the total content.

The Third Circle
Mild violent, use of crude language, implied sexual situations, and childhood nightmare grade imagery can be found here. These situations can not only be referenced in the subject matter, they may be more prevalent. This is the middle of the road as far as our general subject matter goes. These elements may comprise no more than 25% of total subject matter.

The Fourth Circle
Moderate amounts of violence, crude language, non-explicit sexual situations and the stuff of horror movies make up this circle. The author may utilize these more liberally. These elements may comprise no more than 50 percent of total content.

The Fifth Circle
The fifth circle is the highest warning rating of our general published content. Stories with these ratings may contain hedonistic doses of graphic violence, explicit sexual situations, disturbing imagery, and extensive use of crude language. These elements may comprise in excess of 50% of total content, thus making this circle highly inappropriate for anyone under the age of 18.

The last four Circles detail the four major genres as we see them.

The Sixth Circle
Circle Dusk – The Romance Circle, where all works predominately about romance belong.

The Seventh Circle
Circle Twighlight – The Mystery Circle, where all works that are predominately mystery belong.

The Eighth Circle
Circle Midnight – The Horror Circle, where all works that are predominately horror belong.

The Ninth Circle
Circle Night – The General Circle, where works that do not fit easily into the other three Circles belong.