THE HORRIFYING MYSTERY OF SPONTANEOUS HUMAN COMBUSTION: Real Cases That Can't Be Explained
Weird Darkness: Stories of the Paranormal, True Crime, Legends, Lore, Mysterious, Macabre, Unsolved
Darren Marlar
4.6 • 4K Ratings
🗓️ 15 July 2025
⏱️ 103 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
https://weirddarkness.com/spontaneous-combustion-thurston/
When firefighters discover victims reduced to ash while their surroundings remain mysteriously untouched, investigators must confront an impossible question: can human bodies spontaneously burst into flames from within?
Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate
IN THIS EPISODE: When flames consume a person from within, leaving behind only ashes and unanswered questions, science struggles to explain what witnesses swear they've seen.Â
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 = Lead-In
00:02:39.316 = Show Open
00:03:59.557 = Burning at Hawley Manor
00:17:25.644 = Understanding Spontaneous Human Combustion
00:26:53.658 = The Earliest Recorded Cases
00:29:46.722 = The Countess’s Mysterious End
00:33:13.351 = The Innkeeper’s Wife and the Birth of Legal Precedent
00:36:26.458 = Victorian Nightmares
00:41:08.115 = The Cinder Woman of St. Petersburg
00:48:58.890 = The Meter Reader’s Discovery
00:54:25.005 = The Galway Ruling
00:58:14.304 = Modern Horror in Broad Daylight
01:01:07.301 = Survival Stories: The Ones Who Lived To Tell
01:07:32.487 = The Witnessed Combustion
01:11:39.695 = Other Historical Patterns of Horror
01:16:50.654 = The Skeptics Strike Back
01:27:58.195 = The Cases Revisited: Weighing Evidence And Mystery
01:40:18.586 = Show Close
SOURCES AND RESOURCES FROM THE EPISODE…
https://weirddarkness.com/spontaneous-combustion-thurston/
=====
(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: July 14, 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/real-spontaneous-combustion
#SpontaneousHumanCombustion #SHC #MysteriousDeaths #UnexplainedFires #MaryReeser #DrBentley #MichaelFaherty #WickEffect #ParanormalMysteries #JTempleThurston #HawleyManor #ForensicMysteries #CharlesFort #HumanCombustion #TrueCrime #UnsolvedMysteries #StrangeDeaths #JackAngel #JeannieSaffin #KayFletcher #BrianJFord #AcetoneTheory #JoeNickell #LarryArnold #CinderWoman #ForensicScience #UnexplainedPhenomena #MysteriousFires #CreepyMysteries #FireInvestigation #ParanormalInvestigation #WeirdDarkness #TrueCrimeCommunity #UnsolvedCases #ForensicPathology #StrangePhenomena #MysteryFiles #UnexplainedDeaths #FireMysteries #HistoricalMysteries
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Wake up! The Jones is a redo in their garden! Love that porcelain paven and all that fencing. |
| 0:05.4 | I knew it. They've been with their landscaper to Jusen. |
| 0:07.9 | A mini-digger! No wonder she was so smug at Zumba! Right, I want a sunken seating area. She won't have that. |
| 0:14.2 | For materials, tool hire, timber and paving. Don't waste time. Duason's got the lot. |
| 0:19.0 | Like Teralis porcelain paving from only 22 pounds per square meter. |
| 0:22.4 | Love it. |
| 0:23.1 | All trade prices exclude VAT at 20%. |
| 0:25.9 | So now you can keep up with the Joneses. |
| 0:28.0 | And the Evanses. |
| 0:29.2 | And the Bertels. |
| 0:29.9 | As a member of this weirdo family, I value your input. |
| 0:33.3 | And while I try to keep up with the emails, online messages, and comments I receive, |
| 0:38.3 | one thing I've not really done is ask your opinions about certain things I offer in the podcast. |
| 0:44.0 | Do you like the Murder Noir episodes? |
| 0:46.2 | What about the old-time radio stuff? |
| 0:48.1 | Does the more comedic Mind of Marler uploads even belong in the podcast? |
| 0:52.6 | If you could change one thing about Weird Darkness, what would it be? |
| 0:55.8 | Take the survey at WeirdDarkness.com slash survey and let me know what you think about |
| 1:00.8 | what I do and how I do it. |
| 1:02.7 | It'll only take about two minutes, but it'll be invaluable to me as a creator to find out |
| 1:07.4 | what you like and don't like, what you'd like to see more of or less of, |
| 1:11.4 | visit weirddarkness.com slash survey. |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 10 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Darren Marlar, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Darren Marlar and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.