History Comicbook / AVoiceInTheDark

* {{Diary}}: Zoey keeps a diary, which is used as narration for the series. Each time she fills up a book, which includes details on her violent urges and past killing, she burns the book and starts a new one.

* AbusiveParents: "Heather"'s parents are over-controlling and pressuring, but also blame ''her'' when she was raped by a musician [[ScrewTheRUlesIHaveMoney her father wanted to sign as a client]].

** After choosing the pseudonym "Veronica" (See ''Film/{{Heathers}}'') for her radio show, Zoey's first caller makes reference to "Betty" and she refers to him as "Jughead". These are all character names from ''Franchise/ArchieComics''.

* VillainousRescue: {{Implied|Trope}} When Zoey is exploring the layout of the Lambda Theta Kappa house she is caught [[spoiler: and Brock attempts to rape her. The unnamed hockey-mask-wearing party-goer rescues her by knocking Brock out. It is implied that he is actually the SerialKiller that has been murdering female students at Blair, but more issues will be needed to confirm if he is or is not]].

* VillainousRescue: When Zoey is exploring the layout of the Lambda Theta Kappa house she is caught [[spoiler: and Brock attempts to rape her. The unnamed hockey-mask-wearing party-goer rescues her by knocking Brock out. It is [[ImpliedTrope implied]] that he is actually the SerialKiller that has been murdering female students at Blair, but more issues will be needed to confirm if he is or is not]].

* BiTheWay: Ash casually mentions to Zoey that she is bisexual when trying to get Zoey to accept that she (Ash) knows when a woman is physically attractive. She is not hitting on Zoey, but just wants Zoey to recognize that she is not just giving friend-compliments.

* DearDiary: Zoey keeps a diary, which is used as narration for the series. Each time she fills up a book, which includes details on her violent urges and past killing, she burns the book and starts a new one.

The original story-arc was funded by {{Kickstarter}}, with a another Kickstarter campaign funding the ''second'' arc before it was picked up by Image for publication and distribution.

''A Voice in the Dark'', originally titled ''Dark Zoey'', is a black-and-white comic book written and drawn by Larime Taylor, published by ImageComics under their Top Cow imprint. The series follows Zoey Aarons, a burgeoning SerialKiller, as she struggles with her violent urges and temptations after leaving her home to attend college at Blair University, also known as "[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Slaughter U]]" (Do not worry, it is only called that [[SubvertedTrope because the woman the college is named for originally had the last name "Slaughter" before she changed it to "Blair"]]. Of course, the town [[DoubleSubverted is also the serial murder capital of the world]], but that is probably just a coincidence). After arrival [[ShowWithinAShow she starts a call-in show at the university's radio station]] called "Voice'''s''' in the Dark", hoping that having a stable situation to anonymously discuss her feelings and temptations will allow her to control her darker impulses.

The series premiered to almost universal critical acclaim, described as "''ComicBook/StrangersInParadise'' [[JustForFun/XMeetsY meets]] ''Series/{{Dexter}}''"...by ''Strangers in Paradise'' author Terry Moore no less. Just as impressive as the book itself is the fact that writer/artist Larime Taylor is disabled, drawing and lettering the comic solely with his mouth, with covers colored by his wife Sylv Taylor. The cast of the series is predominantly female, with a diverse array of ethnic backgrounds, body types and personalities. The art style is characterized by realism in body forms, using real-life models for staging, and grayscale coloring.

''A Voice in the Dark'', originally titled ''Dark Zoey'', is a black-and-white comic book written and drawn by Larime Taylor, published by ImageComics under their TopCow imprint. The series follows Zoey Aarons, a burgeoning SerialKiller, as she struggles with her violent urges and temptations after leaving her home to attend college at Blair University, also known as "[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Slaughter U]]" (Do not worry, it is only called that [[SubvertedTrope because the woman the college is named for originally had the last name "Slaughter" before she changed it to "Blair"]]. Of course, the town [[DoubleSubverted is also the serial murder capital of the world]], but that is probably just a coincidence). After arrival [[ShowWithinAShow she starts a call-in show at the university's radio station]] called "Voice'''s''' in the Dark", hoping that having a stable situation to anonymously discuss her feelings and temptations will allow her to control her darker impulses.

* TheFaceless: Brock Kazinski, the basketball player boyfriend of Mandy Jenkins, is so tall that his head is always outside the frame when he appears. Only his body from the shoulders-down is visible. [[spoiler: There is a partial glimpse of his face when he is attempting to rape Zoey]].

* NoNameGiven: When she calls into Zoey's radio show, "Heather" picks her pseudonym based on Zoey's choice of "Veronica" ([[ShoutOut Referring to the movie]] ''Film/{{Heathers}}''). Her real name, and the names of her parents, are never revealed.
* ThePerfectCrime: Zoey plans out all her kills very methodically to make sure that she can commit the crime without being observed, dispose of the evidence so it will not be discovered, and also have an alibi for herself in the event that she is suspected. She was a "person of interest" in the murder of Annabelle Turner, but was never an official suspect and avoided even general suspicion.

* TheFaceless: Brock Kazinski, the basketball player boyfriend of Mandy Jenkins, is so tall that his head is outside the frame when talking to Zoe, Ash and Mandy. Only his body from the shoulders-down is visible.

* LastWords: Annabelle Turner's last words were "I'm sorry" when Zoey said that she was killing her [[BullyHunter because of what she had done to Seven]]. This visibly shocks Zoey, who realizes that that it was absolutely nothing like the way she thought her first murder would go.

* EstablishingCharacterMoment: In the first two issues Zoe meets the three women she is roommates with:
** Zoe meets Ash, the PerkyGoth, first. Ash accepts Seven's flirting and welcomes Zoey to the dorm and gives her information on the other roommates.
** Krista is "really friendly. Almost ''too'' friendly. ''Obnoxiously'' friendly." Zoe describes her to her uncle Zeke as "[[GenkiGirl a really blond, really perky puppy.]]"
** Mona is [[BrutalHonesty blunt and direct]], directly asking about Zoey's ancestry.

** Author Larime Taylor is a fan of the film ''Film/{{Heathers}}''; Zoey uses the pseudonym "Veronica" on her show and one of her first callers uses the name "Heather".

* ShoutOut: Author Larime Taylor is a fan of the film ''Film/{{Heathers}}''; Zoey uses the pseudonym "Veronica" on her show and her first serious caller uses the name "Heather".

[[caption-width-right:349:Zoe would like to have a word with you]]

''A Voice in the Dark'', originally titled ''Dark Zoe'', is a black-and-white comic book written and drawn by Larime Taylor, published by ImageComics under their TopCow imprint. The series follows Zoey Aarons, a burgeoning SerialKiller, as she struggles with her violent urges and temptations after leaving her home to attend college at Blair University, also known as "[[IDontLikeTheSoundOfThatPlace Slaughter U]]" (Do not worry, it is only called that [[SubvertedTrope because the woman the college is named for originally had the last name "Slaughter" before she changed it to "Blair"]]. Of course, the town [[DoubleSubverted is also the serial murder capital of the world]], but that is probably just a coincidence). After arrival [[ShowWithinAShow she starts a call-in show at the university's radio station]] called "Voice'''s''' in the Dark", hoping that having a stable situation to anonymously discuss her feelings and temptations will allow her to control her darker impulses.

* AssholeVictim: Zeke, Zoe's cop uncle, points out that [[spoiler: the fact that they were murdered by "Heather"]] does not make her parents any less contemptible themselves.

* ComingOutStory: In one of her classes, discussing bullying and youth culture, Zoe relates the story of her best friend Seven and how she was outed to the school and her parents, [[IHaveNoSon who disowned her]].
* CreatorCameo: Larime Taylor drew himself at the sorority party in issue #4, appearing as one of the many people hitting on Zoe.
* DaydreamSurprise: Zoe frequently has fantasies about killing the people around her, and sometimes she herself is unaware that it is not real until the daydreams end.

* DownerEnding: The first arc ends with [[spoiler: Zoe's first radio show ending with a caller murdering her parents while still talking to Zoe on the phone]].

** Seven, Zoe's best friend, tried to kill herself a year before the series. She had fallen for Annabelle Turner, a [[AlphaBitch popular girl who was only toying with Seven's emotions]]. After Annabelle outed her at school, her school counselor accidentally outed her to her parents, who subsequently disowned her.

* EyeScream: One of Zoe's [[IndulgentFantasySegue fantasies]] is stabbing a classmate in the eye with a pen.
* FlippingTheBird: Zoe flips off her image when [[TheManInTheMirrorTalksBack talking to her darker impulses]], but since she is just facing a mirror all she does is flip off herself.

** [[DefiedTrope Defied]] with Zoe. The very first issue opens with Zoe explicitly stating that she was never abused as a child and there was nothing that "turned" her into a serial killer.
** "Heather", the caller on Zoe's first night on the air, is an AlphaBitch (Self described "Queen Bee") who contributed to the sexual assault of a less-popular girl who tried to fit in with her circle. She goes on to describe how she herself was assaulted years earlier and tried to put what happened to her onto other people.
* FriendOnTheForce: Zoe's uncle, Zeke, is a homicide detective in the town where she goes to college. Though Zoe is not an amateur detective or other such trope-trappings, his knowledge of the law and people is very helpful to her.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Zoe has extremely strong urges to kill, but does not actually ''want'' to be a killer. She hopes that her talk show will allow her to let out those feelings and be able to live a normal life.
* IndulgentFantasySegue: Zoe has frequent daydreams of killing the people around her. Occasionally, elements of the daydream (Such as the imaginary wounds) will persist after she has "woken up."
* LastWords: Annabelle Turner's last words were "I'm sorry" when Zoe said that she was killing her [[BullyHunter because of what she had done to Seven]]. This visibly shocks Zoe, who realizes that that it was absolutely nothing like the way she thought her first murder would go.
* TheManInTheMirrorTalksBack: Zoe talks to herself in the mirror, and the mirror (The representation of her violent urges) talks back.
* PerkyGoth: Ash, one of Zoe's roommates. She's a little bit less on the "Goth", but retains the element.

* ShoutOut: Author Larime Taylor is a fan of the film ''Film/{{Heathers}}''; Zoe uses the pseudonym "Veronica" on her show and her first serious caller uses the name "Heather".

* XDaysSince: Zoe's starts her diary entries with the number of days that it has been since she killed someone. The first issue starts at 72 days since she has killed someone.
* YearZero: Zoe counts days from the [[XDaysSince last time she killed someone]], indicating how much time has passed in the comic between and within issues.