THE PLAISTOW HORROR: The Boy Who Slept Next To His Mother’s Corpse After Murdering Her
Weird Darkness: Paranormal & True Crime Stories
Darren Marlar
4.6 • 4.1K Ratings
🗓️ 7 August 2025
⏱️ 158 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Join the DARKNESS SYNDICATE: https://weirddarkness.com/syndicate
Take the WEIRD DARKNESS LISTENER SURVEY and help mold the future of the podcast: https://weirddarkness.com/survey
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
#RobertCoombes #PlaistowHorror #VictorianCrime #TrueCrime #VictorianMurder #1895Murder #BritishTrueCrime #HistoricalCrime #DarkHistory #Broadmoor #BroadmoorHospital #VictorianEngland #EastLondonMurder #OldBailey #PennyDreadfuls #JuvenileCrime #Matricide #EmilyCoomes #TheWickedBoy #KateSummerscale #VictorianScandal #13YearOldKiller #ChildKiller #VictorianLondon #TrueCrimeCommunity #TrueCrimeAddict #TrueCrimePodcast #DarkVictorianHistory #19thCenturyCrime #BritishHistory #CriminalHistory #HollowayPrison #GallipoliHero #MilitaryMedal #HistoricMurders #TrueCrimeStory #VictorianChildren #CriminalPsychology #InsanityDefense #TrueCrimeCase #UnsolvedNoMore #CreepyHistory #MurderHistory #TrueCrimeObsessed #HistoricalTrueCrime
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | As a member of this weirdo family, I value your input, and while I try to keep up with |
| 0:04.6 | the emails, online messages, and comments I receive, one thing I've not really done is ask |
| 0:10.6 | your opinions about certain things I offer in the podcast. |
| 0:13.9 | Do you like the Murder Noir episodes? |
| 0:16.2 | What about the old-time radio stuff? |
| 0:18.0 | Does the more comedic Mind of Marler uploads even belong in the podcast? |
| 0:22.5 | If you could change one thing about Weird Darkness, what would it be? Take the survey at |
| 0:26.7 | weirddarkness.com slash survey and let me know what you think about what I do and how I do it. |
| 0:32.6 | It'll only take about two minutes, but it'll be invaluable to me as a creator to find out |
| 0:37.3 | what you like and |
| 0:38.1 | don't like, what you'd like to see more of, or less of. Visit weirddarkness.com slash |
| 0:43.5 | survey. That's weirddarkness.com slash survey. If you've ever wanted to learn more about |
| 0:49.1 | stories I share in the podcast, you'll want to sign up for the free Weird Darkness newsletter. |
| 0:54.9 | Several times per week, you'll get an email that not only includes the audio player with a recent episode, but a deep |
| 0:59.7 | dive article of that same subject, going more in depth than what you heard in the podcast. I also |
| 1:05.2 | post numerous articles that never make it into the podcast, and I share those in the newsletter, too. |
| 1:10.1 | Along with transcripts of my hororable humor podcast, Mind I share those in the newsletter, too. Along with transcripts |
| 1:11.2 | of my horrible humor podcast, Mind of Marler, you'll get videos of murder noir as I post them, |
| 1:17.2 | the most popular video of the week from my YouTube channel. Plus, I include bonus audio in the |
| 1:22.1 | newsletter every week that I don't post to the podcast, and if I still have room at the bottom, |
| 1:27.2 | I'll stick a funny |
| 1:28.1 | meme in there for you. Sign up for the free Weird Darkness newsletter at Weird Darkness.com |
... |
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