In the sweltering summer of 1895, two boys lived with their mother's decomposing corpse for ten days while playing cricket and going to the seaside — a Victorian crime that shocked even the most hardened of London's East End residents.

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IN THIS EPISODE: In the summer of 1895, two young brothers in London's East End harbored a secret so dark that when it was finally discovered, it would become one of Victorian England's most shocking criminal cases. The stench had become unbearable by the time anyone noticed something was wrong at 35 Cave Road. It was July in Plaistow, and the heat made everything worse — the smell of the docks, the horse manure from the market gardens, and whatever was rotting behind the locked bedroom door of the Coombes family home. (Plaistow Horror)
ABOUT WEIRD DARKNESS: Weird Darkness is a true crime and paranormal podcast narrated by professional award-winning voice actor, Darren Marlar. Seven days per week, Weird Darkness focuses on all thing strange and macabre such as haunted locations, unsolved mysteries, true ghost stories, supernatural manifestations, urban legends, unsolved or cold case murders, conspiracy theories, and more. On Thursdays, this scary stories podcast features horror fiction along with the occasional creepypasta. Weird Darkness has been named one of the “Best 20 Storytellers in Podcasting” by Podcast Business Journal. Listeners have described the show as a cross between “Coast to Coast” with Art Bell, “The Twilight Zone” with Rod Serling, “Unsolved Mysteries” with Robert Stack, and “In Search Of” with Leonard Nimoy.DISCLAIMER: Ads heard during the podcast that are not in my voice are placed by third party agencies outside of my control and should not imply an endorsement by Weird Darkness or myself. *** Stories and content in Weird Darkness can be disturbing for some listeners and intended for mature audiences only. Parental discretion is strongly advised.
CHAPTERS & TIME STAMPS (All Times Approximate)…
00:00:00.000 = Part One
00:02:46.989 = Show Open
00:04:02.016 = Part Two
00:16:54.704 = Part Three
00:44:40.291 = Part Four
01:12:01.698 = Part Five
01:42:32.253 = Part Six
02:16:49.955 = Part Seven
02:35:46.789 = Show Close
SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…
https://weirddarkness.com/plaistow-murder-robert-coombes/
=====(Over time links may become invalid, disappear, or have different content. I always make sure to give authors credit for the material I use whenever possible. If I somehow overlooked doing so for a story, or if a credit is incorrect, please let me know and I will rectify it in these show notes immediately. Some links included above may benefit me financially through qualifying purchases.)= = = = ="I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness." — John 12:46= = = = =WeirdDarkness® is a registered trademark. Copyright ©2025, Weird Darkness.=====Originally aired: August 06, 2025
NOTE: Some of this content may have been created with assistance from AI tools, but it has been reviewed, edited, narrated, produced, and approved by Darren Marlar, creator and host of Weird Darkness — who, despite popular conspiracy theories, is NOT an AI voice.
EPISODE PAGE at WeirdDarkness.com (includes list of sources): https://weirddarkness.com/PlaistowHorror
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