I agree with you on the idea that he refused to control himself when it came to poisoning others. It sounds like Young had control issues early on as a child, and giving “loved ones” doses of poison and watching the effects probably satisfied a need to feel in control if not of his own life, than that of the health of others. He had an overbearing mother and an emotionally absent father - his support system of his aunt and uncle were removed which probably made him feel isolated. At the same time, he probably had a lot of anger towards his family and didn’t have a good means of releasing it, instead channeling it into topics that appealed to his bitterness like Nazism and poison. He may also have been born with the genetics that would predispose him to developing a psychopathic or sociopathic personality disorder, and his rough childhood and choices in personal indoctrination just sped that along. Between nurture vs. nature, I believe in his case it was a mix of both. No one is born a murderer, but you don’t have to be raised one to become one. This story made me think of a fictional book/play/movie that brought the question of nurture vs. nature up in the 50s called “The Bad Seed.” If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend watching the film ( the 50s version, not the modern one). Great podcast - love listening to you while painting!
A lot of it seems to be insecurity and poor self-image as well - his compulsion to bombard everyone around him with random knowledge about esoteric subjects they likely care little for and understand even less. It screams “look how smart I am!” Nazism in general appeals to people with issues of insecurity and poor self-image, while at the same time for him it probably carried a bit of rebelliousness with it, too - he was essentially playing the social contrarian, while at the same time feeling smarter than everyone else because of it. I doubt he even read much about the Nazis, just enough to know it’d piss people off. Anyone with a brain that’s actually studied the Nazis for any length of time knows they existed on a spectrum from pure evil to sheer incompetence. He was poisoned from smelling his own farts long before he started dosing his family and friends, that’s for sure.
Brilliant and insightful analysis Hannah. Thank you for sharing it. I have a hunch that you're a professional at some level in the field of psychiatry or psychology. Bet I'm right!
Well, I’m an elementary educator, so not an expert on psychology, but I did take some courses in child psychology in university. The bulk of my psychology knowledge comes from my mama. She’s a professor of nursing, and teaches courses on psychology and mental disorders. She’s taught me a lot about the mind, and how to avoid dysfunctional or dangerous people.
@@hannahpense9973 Mother's are such great teachers, we're lucky to have them. I can tell she's done a great job. She's imparted such valuable information to you. Great to get a response from you. Thanks, Greg
Sickening story. His poor sister having to be convinced to help the freak that killed her mother and poisoned herself and with a baby! Agree with other post, people around this nut were dense fools! Very well told and researched as always 👍
I wondered why his sister took him back in after all that. I thought maybe because his dad basically disowned him, maybe she felt some kind of familial responsibility, but still, she was braver than I for letting him in, that's for sure!
Just discovered your podcast by stumbling across this episode. The Young Poisoner’s Handbook is somehow one of my favorite films and The St. Albans Poisoner has to be one of the most interesting true crime books I’ve ever read. That being said I don’t know how you came up with so much detail in this! I thought I was well versed in this story but you offered up so much detail I either didn’t know or must have forgotten. Very impressed:) I’ve since gone on to listen to more episodes and this is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasts.
OMG all these events are local to me - Neasden, Dollis Hill, John Kelly School.. I bet the clock company his Dad worked for was Smith's in Cricklewood! And the park, where he talked to old ladies, sounds like Gladstone Park.. Dennis Nielsen was pretty local to this area as well!
Whee! I love Dark Histories! I was so excited when I saw that you'd done this episode about Graham Young, and then I actually squee'd outloud when you started chatting about The Young Poisoner's Handbook. I had looked in the description to see if it was listed with your other references but obviously hadn't seen it there. The YPH film did come thru the US on the international film festival circuit in 1996, which is when I saw it in theatre, I was just shy of 19. It was so-o good! Keep up the great work Ben! You've been a big part of my sanity during the quarantine! Much love from Seattle! Sleep tight!
Yeah I saw it here in the US on video. It’s funny because I was also 19 when I saw it and fell in love with the film. It was the first time I had heard of Graham Young and his story always stuck with me. He really was fascinating in the fact that he started at such a young age.
@@bayonetababe9697 Me too, and the actor who played Graham, Hugh O'Conor, was so adorable. I didn't see him again until Chocolat. I've since watched/listened to a handful of bios about Graham Young since this one and it's taken a bit of the "fun" (see dysFUNction) out of the movie from my youth. I love Dark Histories' treatment of difficult and sensitive stories though, sometimes I've had to turn off other people's presentations of the same topics because they seem too judgy and skip too much info in comparison, lol. Otherwise I sit and argue outloud YT over the facts of the case at hand. Dorkasaurus Lux!
@@lux.illuminaughty Yeah I thought the actor that played Graham was a cutie. I had forgotten about him being in Chocolat. I also have listened to many stories about him since seeing the movie. It is actually how I found this channel. I also watch Lights Out Podcast and they did an episode on him and then this one was recommended to me in my feed. So glad it was because I’m now subscribed and have binged 1-3 seasons now and about to start the fourth. I don’t know if you’ve ever checked out Lights Out Podcast but they do a great job and definitely aren’t judge mental. I also like that they don’t skip over the gruesome details.
Tragic... what a malharmonic waste of a splendid mind & passionate marriage to the subject of specific chemical creatures... Had he healed whatever torment riddled his heart, he could have embraced the highest manifestations of his art along with a happy & symbiotic rather than abyssal & predatory existence among his fellow men. Perhaps if he could have remained with his aunt-adoptive-mother & uncle-adoptive-father, perhaps if he had been less alone & had true peers of mind with which to share his splendid powers as well as a means for which to catch & correct for his darkest perversions, it would be so...
Graham Young was a serial killer. He is no different from any serial killer before or since. Without exception, serial killers are highly intelligent although in most cases they do not achieve or pursue the level of education commiserate with their IQ. They all are cold and detached lacking in emotion although many are adept at feigning emotions because they are also chameleons. Serial killers are born and not made. Their brains are wired differently such that they do not see others as living breathing beings, but more as objects. To them people are no different than furnitures. There has not been one single case of a serial killer who was rehabilitated. And no psychologist believe it is possible to do so. It is not the environment or their upbringing that made them do it; so sorry to disappoint those of you who wants to blame society.
Most disturbing and shamefully entertaining episode I have listed to so far.
Fascinating. Wonderful work. I may have found my new favorite channel on RUclips.
I agree with you on the idea that he refused to control himself when it came to poisoning others. It sounds like Young had control issues early on as a child, and giving “loved ones” doses of poison and watching the effects probably satisfied a need to feel in control if not of his own life, than that of the health of others. He had an overbearing mother and an emotionally absent father - his support system of his aunt and uncle were removed which probably made him feel isolated. At the same time, he probably had a lot of anger towards his family and didn’t have a good means of releasing it, instead channeling it into topics that appealed to his bitterness like Nazism and poison. He may also have been born with the genetics that would predispose him to developing a psychopathic or sociopathic personality disorder, and his rough childhood and choices in personal indoctrination just sped that along. Between nurture vs. nature, I believe in his case it was a mix of both. No one is born a murderer, but you don’t have to be raised one to become one. This story made me think of a fictional book/play/movie that brought the question of nurture vs. nature up in the 50s called “The Bad Seed.” If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend watching the film ( the 50s version, not the modern one). Great podcast - love listening to you while painting!
A lot of it seems to be insecurity and poor self-image as well - his compulsion to bombard everyone around him with random knowledge about esoteric subjects they likely care little for and understand even less. It screams “look how smart I am!” Nazism in general appeals to people with issues of insecurity and poor self-image, while at the same time for him it probably carried a bit of rebelliousness with it, too - he was essentially playing the social contrarian, while at the same time feeling smarter than everyone else because of it.
I doubt he even read much about the Nazis, just enough to know it’d piss people off. Anyone with a brain that’s actually studied the Nazis for any length of time knows they existed on a spectrum from pure evil to sheer incompetence. He was poisoned from smelling his own farts long before he started dosing his family and friends, that’s for sure.
@@brandonp3455 Nailed it on the head Brandon!
Brilliant and insightful analysis Hannah. Thank you for sharing it. I have a hunch that you're a professional at some level in the field of psychiatry or psychology. Bet I'm right!
Well, I’m an elementary educator, so not an expert on psychology, but I did take some courses in child psychology in university. The bulk of my psychology knowledge comes from my mama. She’s a professor of nursing, and teaches courses on psychology and mental disorders. She’s taught me a lot about the mind, and how to avoid dysfunctional or dangerous people.
@@hannahpense9973 Mother's are such great teachers, we're lucky to have them. I can tell she's done a great job. She's imparted such valuable information to you. Great to get a response from you.
Thanks,
Greg
Sickening story. His poor sister having to be convinced to help the freak that killed her mother and poisoned herself and with a baby! Agree with other post, people around this nut were dense fools! Very well told and researched as always 👍
I wondered why his sister took him back in after all that. I thought maybe because his dad basically disowned him, maybe she felt some kind of familial responsibility, but still, she was braver than I for letting him in, that's for sure!
Just discovered your podcast by stumbling across this episode. The Young Poisoner’s Handbook is somehow one of my favorite films and The St. Albans Poisoner has to be one of the most interesting true crime books I’ve ever read. That being said I don’t know how you came up with so much detail in this! I thought I was well versed in this story but you offered up so much detail I either didn’t know or must have forgotten. Very impressed:) I’ve since gone on to listen to more episodes and this is quickly becoming one of my favorite podcasts.
New Dark Histories video - never clicked so fast in my life!
After this one, I'm REALLY glad my nephew is into gaming and designing games and not poisons.
Haha right?! Poison is just not the sort of hobby that's ever going to end well 🙈
Sir Ben, your voice is on asmr level. And your stories are all well researched and delivered. Love your work, keep it up.
I love his voice, and I also love how you can hear him smiling or suppressing a laugh
Love your podcasts, Ben! Well done, you.
I so love listening to Ben's voice!
Swedish person here. I found it _(The Young Poisoner's Handbook)_ in my local video rental store in the late 90th.
And I loved it.
👀
My reward for working long hours.... new Dark Histories to catch up on! Thank you Thank You Thank You!!!
OMG all these events are local to me - Neasden, Dollis Hill, John Kelly School.. I bet the clock company his Dad worked for was Smith's in Cricklewood!
And the park, where he talked to old ladies, sounds like Gladstone Park.. Dennis Nielsen was pretty local to this area as well!
I live roughly in his area as well💀💀
@@ianberko3411 Melrose Avenue?
His “career” as a poisoner. 😳
Whee! I love Dark Histories! I was so excited when I saw that you'd done this episode about Graham Young, and then I actually squee'd outloud when you started chatting about The Young Poisoner's Handbook. I had looked in the description to see if it was listed with your other references but obviously hadn't seen it there. The YPH film did come thru the US on the international film festival circuit in 1996, which is when I saw it in theatre, I was just shy of 19. It was so-o good!
Keep up the great work Ben! You've been a big part of my sanity during the quarantine! Much love from Seattle! Sleep tight!
Yeah I saw it here in the US on video. It’s funny because I was also 19 when I saw it and fell in love with the film. It was the first time I had heard of Graham Young and his story always stuck with me. He really was fascinating in the fact that he started at such a young age.
@@bayonetababe9697 Me too, and the actor who played Graham, Hugh O'Conor, was so adorable. I didn't see him again until Chocolat.
I've since watched/listened to a handful of bios about Graham Young since this one and it's taken a bit of the "fun" (see dysFUNction) out of the movie from my youth. I love Dark Histories' treatment of difficult and sensitive stories though, sometimes I've had to turn off other people's presentations of the same topics because they seem too judgy and skip too much info in comparison, lol. Otherwise I sit and argue outloud YT over the facts of the case at hand. Dorkasaurus Lux!
@@lux.illuminaughty Yeah I thought the actor that played Graham was a cutie. I had forgotten about him being in Chocolat. I also have listened to many stories about him since seeing the movie. It is actually how I found this channel. I also watch Lights Out Podcast and they did an episode on him and then this one was recommended to me in my feed. So glad it was because I’m now subscribed and have binged 1-3 seasons now and about to start the fourth. I don’t know if you’ve ever checked out Lights Out Podcast but they do a great job and definitely aren’t judge mental. I also like that they don’t skip over the gruesome details.
I enjoyed this quite detailed telling of the case, however, not quite so much the spooky background music.
someone has "St. Albans Poisoner: Life and Crimes of Graham Young" audiobook ?
This story really fascinates me how someone so young has such psychopathic tendencies 🙈
Mad to say I live near where that hostel used to be lol
His parents named him Graham Young because when he was born he looked very young
i read books on those subjects too. and seek out internet info on them lol
Can barely hear it :(
Film on RUclips for $2.99!
Tragic... what a malharmonic waste of a splendid mind & passionate marriage to the subject of specific chemical creatures... Had he healed whatever torment riddled his heart, he could have embraced the highest manifestations of his art along with a happy & symbiotic rather than abyssal & predatory existence among his fellow men. Perhaps if he could have remained with his aunt-adoptive-mother & uncle-adoptive-father, perhaps if he had been less alone & had true peers of mind with which to share his splendid powers as well as a means for which to catch & correct for his darkest perversions, it would be so...
Graham Young was a serial killer. He is no different from any serial killer before or since. Without exception, serial killers are highly intelligent although in most cases they do not achieve or pursue the level of education commiserate with their IQ. They all are cold and detached lacking in emotion although many are adept at feigning emotions because they are also chameleons. Serial killers are born and not made. Their brains are wired differently such that they do not see others as living breathing beings, but more as objects. To them people are no different than furnitures. There has not been one single case of a serial killer who was rehabilitated. And no psychologist believe it is possible to do so. It is not the environment or their upbringing that made them do it; so sorry to disappoint those of you who wants to blame society.