The Three Fifty-seven offers a commemoration to those individuals who died while serving their countries.
My name is William Spear and this program is titled I WILL NOT DANCE. Over four episodes, an Unnamed Service Personnel will tell of leaving family and dying in battle.
Although the events are set in the Second World War, and the Narrator is from New Jersey, U.S.A., the story could be told of any conflict and the warrior could be from any country.
Join us as the Narrator celebrates a family wedding and historical roots in Episode One titled TWO HUNDRED FEET.
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My cousin’s wedding was a loud and raucous affair. For ten hours – starting before the church – two hundred feetAnd hands stomp’d, clap’d, and echoed Jersey City heartbeats Back to Cavan.
Ah, Cavan! County and city in Ulster Province Of northeastern Ireland. Embraced by the counties Monaghan, Meath, Westmeath, Longford, and Leitrim. Uplands Cross’d by valleys.
The main of which nestles the River Erne, the second Longest through the province. With slate and shale hills, beyond. Catholic and Protestant churches criss cross the county. Faith runs deep here . . .
. . . And burns as brightly and fiercely as in Bréifne times. When our people became East Bréifne and fought English Colonization until the late fifteen hundreds. These were the roots . . .
. . . Swirling across the floor and toasting love evermore, Cold winds battered and driving rains soaked the parish hall, There was nothing that could break us or tear us apart. We were fam’ly.
We danced for days . . . and then the notice came.
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That was Episode One titled TWO HUNDRED FEET. It was written and narrated by William Spear.
Music was through the courtesy of Serge Pavkin.
The series I WILL NOT DANCE was produced by The Three Fifty-seven.
Thank you for listening.
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My name is William Spear and this is our series titled THE GHOSTLY GROOM. It is inspired by, and interpreted from, Washington Irving’s THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM.
Lenore Katzenellen is the 45-year-old founder and president of a financial analysis firm. She is also engaged but her fiancé is killed in an automobile accident. And then calls Lenore’s house.
Her father and aunts are terrified. She is curious.
The dead fiancé’s bandaged face and head is seen outside the kitchen window.
Lenore is now intrigued. Her family is petrified.
While she is out for milk, a uniformed police officer stops at the house and tells them Lenore’s car has been found abandoned on the side of the road.
Find out what happens in the Fifth and Final Episode titled REMAINS.
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The two aunts wailed in unison: “Our poor, poor Lenore.”
The officer continued: “There was a note.” The baron read it out loud. “I’ve gone with him.”
The officer asked who’s the “him”?
“Her dead fiancé,” sobbed the aunts. “Now she is dead.”
The aunts hugged each other and gasped in fragments. “Even worse. He came back . . .” “To keep the wedding vows. And they will have . . .” “Spirit children.”
The two looked at each other and spoke with a single voice: “Wretched, phantom, spirit children!”
Despite implication of his daughter’s death or worse, marriage to a ghost, the baron remained silent. Oddly, calmly, quiet. Rather than add to the tsunami of misery, he thought, “What would Lenore do? What would Lenore do?”
He asked where her car was found. “Up north. About thirty minutes,” was the answer.
“That’s where Geoffrey died,” said the baron.
They headed to the door and the officer stopped them. “We received a call from the hospital about a woman matching Lenore’s description.”
They piled into a car and drove to Wurtzburg hospital. The receptionist said it was too late for Lenore. More tears from the aunts.
The baron countered with, “Do you mean dead or left?”
The receptionist clarified: “I am so, so sorry. She left.”
The baron and aunts pondered the details.
One of the thinkers spoke of “needing a miracle” and another spoke of praying and the third said, “a church would be useful for divine thoughts.” Whereupon the three pirouetted, exclaimed, “Of course” and headed off.
Moments later they were careening through the cemetery of Wurtzburg cathedral.
One of the aunts pointed to a shadowy figure and the other shouted its head was covered in bandages. The baron steered the car on a collision course, cornered the fugitive between two mausoleums, and confronted the spectre: “Take me to Lenore or I will deliver you to the worms.”
With no escape available, the figure dropped to its knees. The baron would have run it over if a voice had not interceded: “Father, it’s alright.” It was Lenore!
The two hugged and the aunts made it a watery foursome. Their relief was interrupted by the sobbing figure.
The baron approached fiercely: “The police will show more mercy than me.”
Lenore stepped between them, comforted the figure, and helped it stand. She told of more details.
The figure spoke: “I am Herman Starken. My father served with you in the last war.”
The assemblage bowed their heads and offered, “We thank him for his service and may he rest in peace.”
Herman told of Geoffrey offering a ride. “Then,” continued Herman. “Geoffrey asked me to call Lenore on his mobile. When he finished, a herd of deer bolted across the road. Geoffrey swerved and the car crashed down a ravine.”
The aunts gasped and Herman continued: “My face and head were bleeding badly but Geoffrey was worse. His breathing was labored. He begged I tell you what happened. I laughingly told him he would get well and tell the story at his wedding reception. He insisted I speak with you or his soul would not rest.”
The eyes of the aunts welled. Herman again continued: “I agreed and . . . he died. I grabbed his phone and wallet, crawled out of the ravine, and collapsed on the highway. A motorist called an ambulance. You know most of the rest of the story.”
Herman added: “I hope, Sir, you and your good family, will find it within you to forgive me for any pain or sorrow.”
The baron’s anger began to rise but the aunts counseled him privately on the genuineness of Herman’s motive. The baron wavered. Lenore spoke of the respect Herman had shown for Geoffrey’s dying request. The baron, who thought his daughter was dead and was grateful she was still alive, re-considered and thanked Herman for his actions.
Upon which, Herman collapsed and was rushed to hospital.
A few days later, the real Geoffrey Ochre was lain to rest in Wurtzburg cathedral. His parents and family wept and Lenore comforted them. After the funeral, Herman went back to the hospital. He was released several months later.
However, the aunts were less fortunate. They lost a chance to tell a real life ghost story and organize a traditional wedding. But others came along. Weddings, not ghost stories.
And Lenore continued running her business.
Dear readers and listeners, this is how the story ends.
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That was the Fifth and Last Episode titled REMAINS.
Theme music is through the courtesy of Nicky.
William Spear wrote the series and it was produced by The Three Fifty-seven.
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Hello . . . and welcome to the Three Fifty-seven.
My name is William Spear and this is our series titled THE GHOSTLY GROOM. It is inspired by, and interpreted from, Washington Irving’s THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM. It was published in the same year as the Panic of 1819, the first major financial crisis in the United States.
Previously, Lenore Katzenellen and her family had left her seriously injured and heavily bandaged fiancé in an Odenwald, New Jersey hospital. Moments later they were told his body had been pulled from a crash site in Wurtzburg. They went back to his room and, except for a few bandages, it was empty. Her father and aunts were badly shaken and she took them home after.
Once home, an upsetting phone caller demanded from the aunts: “Is she there? I must talk to her.” Needing quiet to think, Lenore sent them to prepare a meal but they ran back when they saw the fiancé outside the window. She comforted them and walked to the kitchen. Much to their alarm.
And now Episode Four titled GONE.
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Lenore’s father and two aunts were terrified. “Come back,” they insisted. “What are you doing?” “Lenore!” “Dear Heaven, above, protect her!”
Silence like a funeral fell on them. Deafening, dreadful quiet. Shattered only by the clock in the hallway: tick-tock . . . tick-tock . . . tick-
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”
The father and aunts screamed back, “Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” They grabbed each other and fearfully sideways-scuttled into the kitchen expecting the worst. And there, in anguish and misery, was Lenore writhing with arms upstretched in agony.
“LENORE!” they shouted.
She whirled about and casually said, “Oh, hello.”
Her father started: “You saw Geoffrey’s ghost!” “What did he say?” demanded one aunt. “Where did he go?” insisted the other. The three looked at each other then her and trembled: “Is he coming back?”
Lenore smiled and assured them she had not seen her fiancé’s ghost and was merely frustrated by not having milk in the house.
The other three looked at each other as if she had uttered in a language last spoken by Diedrich Knickerbocker of Upper Saxony in the mid-sixteen hundreds.
The father started: “You talked to your dead fiancé and the police found his body in a ravine.” An aunt added: “I answered a call from his ghost.” The other aunt finished: “And you are in here screaming over milk?!”
Lenore innocently added, “I want hot chocolate. How about you three?”
The “you three” grumbled “Sure”, “Why not”, and “Maybe it will take the jagged edge off our nerves”.
Lenore promised to be back in five minutes and the family settled in to wait for her return.
The three praised Lenore for holding up so well under the circumstances. One aunt gushed her niece’s bravery. Her father added if her mother was still alive she’d be so proud. The second aunt confidently boasted Lenore could withstand ten phantoms like the fiancé’s ghost. “Not that he’s still in the area,” she quickly added.
The others looked at her and speculated: “You don’t think . . .” “He must be gone by now . . .” “What if . . .?” “Shouldn’t Lenore be back by now?”
Three slow knocks rattled the front door. No one moved. Three more knocks intruded. Louder and with more urgency.
The father felt drawn to the door. In actuality, the two aunts pushed him.
He crept to the door and his trembling hand turned the knob. There stood the same uniformed police officer from Wurtzburg who came to house hour earlier.
“Good evening. baron. Ladies. Lenore’s car has been found abandoned on the side of the road.”
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That was Episode Four titled GONE.
Theme music is through the courtesy of Nicky.
William Spear wrote and narrated the series and it was produced by The Three Fifty-seven.
THE GHOSTLY GROOM, Episode 03 – The Frightened Family
His altar was the grave.
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Hello . . . and welcome to the Three Fifty-seven.
My name is William Spear and this is our series titled THE GHOSTLY GROOM. It is inspired by, and interpreted from, Washington Irving’s THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM. It was published during the U.S. presidency of James Monroe. That’s 1819 for history fans.
Previously, Lenore Katzenellen’s fiancé suffered life-threatening wounds from an automobile accident. She and her father, the baron, and two aunts drove to the hospital and saw him heavily bandaged from head to shoulders to arms. Lenore held his hand and assured him he would get well for their wedding. The fiancé, Geoffrey Ochre, told her he was already a dead man. He wailed, “I died in the crash and the Wurtzburg cemetery is waiting for me. That is my only altar.”
Geoffrey’s doctor rushed her out of the room and she agreed to come back in the morning. Before she left, a police office from Wurtzburg approached her and expressed regrets. She thanked the officer and said everyone was focused on keeping Geoffrey calm.
“He is beyond calm,” said the officer. “His car and body were pulled from a ravine on Route Thirty-one near Wurtzburg. He was pronounced dead at the scene.”
And now Episode Three titled THE FRIGHTENED FAMILY.
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The doctor rushed into Geoffrey’s room and staggered back with impossible news: Too late. He’s gone.
The aunts wept loudly. “So young,” said one. “So handsome,” cried the other.
Lenore refused to believe the doctor. She was just talking with Geoffrey. He couldn’t have died.
The doctor was rattled: “Not dead . . . gone. Disappeared. Vanished.”
The aunts gasped. “We have been with a ghost,” said one. “He might come back at any time,” cried the other.
They collapsed onto a sofa.
Lenore told her father to tend to the aunts and went into Geoffrey’s room. Aside from a few bandages, there was nothing left. Not a trace that he had ever been there.
She walked around looking for an explanation, anything, but found nothing. Still, something was missing. Beyond Geoffrey, something was gone that shouldn’t be.
Lenore’s father wanted to take the aunts home and call it a night. She agreed. The four gathered and left.
For the entire ride, the aunts speculated Geoffrey was an angry spirit or a phantom. “Possibly even a specter that might come back for you, Lenore,” chimed in her father. All three vowed twenty-four hour vigilance for the widowed bride-to-that-never-was.
“No ghost would stand a chance against my three defenders,” said Lenore referencing her family. The mood lightened.
They arrived home to a ringing telephone. One aunt picked it up and heard a man asking, “Is she there? I must talk to her.” She slammed it down saying it was Geoffrey’s ghost. For the aunts and the baron, their night of fear was growing and growing.
For Lenore, the puzzle was becoming more and more interesting.
Needing a space to think, she sent them into the kitchen to prepare a meal. Alone, Lenore analysed the evening. Geoffrey seemed so alive even if he had been heavily bandaged. He couldn’t be a ghost. But the Wurtzberg police identified his body in the crash.
A piercing shriek came from the kitchen followed by her father and two aunts running to Lenore. “He’s here,” they chorused. “Outside.” “Bandages!” WE SAW HIM!.”
Lenore demanded they take a deep breath. They refused. She insisted on a calming breath or she would march them into the kitchen. They breathed in so deeply the curtains drifted toward them.
To their horror, Lenore walked into the kitchen. “Come back,” they insisted. “What are you doing?” “Lenore!” “Dear Heaven, above, protect her!”
Silence like a funeral fell on them. Deafening, dreadful quiet. Shattered only by the clock in the hallway: tick-tick-tick-tick-tick . . .
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!” screamed Lenore.
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You have listened to Episode Three titled THE FRIGHTENED FAMILY.
Theme music is through the courtesy of Nicky.
William Spear wrote and narrated the series and it was produced by The Three Fifty-seven.
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Hello . . . and welcome to the Three Fifty-seven.
My name is William Spear and this is our series titled THE GHOSTLY GROOM. It is inspired by, and interpreted from, Washington Irving’s THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM published in 1819. That’s right; over two hundred years ago.
Lenore Katzenellen is the 45-year-old founder and president of a financial analysis firm in Odenwald, New Jersey. She, her father, and two aunts have been called to a nearby hospital to identify her fiancé, Geoffrey Ochre, who has been badly injured in an automobile accident. When they arrive, he is unconscious and heavily bandaged from his head to shoulders to arms.
While waiting to speak with him, she identified his billfold and mobile phone. Then the noises started.
And now the Second Episode titled HER SURPRISE.
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From inside Geoffrey’s room came thrashing sounds and screams. “I must speak with Lenore. Is she here? Lenore? Lenore! WHERE IS SHE?”
Lenore insisted she go to him but was asked to wait. Gesturing to the police officer, the doctor asked for possible assistance in restraining Geoffrey.
There were more calls for “Lenore” and “Why isn’t she here?” Also, “Mr. Ochre you must stay in the bed” and “If you calm down I’ll bring her.”
When the turmoil lessened, the doctor came for Lenore but warned, “Remember, he must be kept calm.”
The doctor escorted her in and she gasped at seeing him. She quietly leaned over and whispered, “Not to worry. I will stay by your side.”
Geoffrey went wild with protests,“No! No! I have an appointment later tonight.”
Lenore told him to send someone else.
Geoffrey insisted: “Only I can keep the appointment.”
Lenore patiently explained he had to get better for their wedding.
Geoffrey revealed his appointment was with the worms. The worms expected him. Lenore did not understand. “How could you have an appointment with worms?”
“I died in the car crash and the Wurtzburg cemetery is waiting for me. That is my only altar,” he wailed.
The doctor led Lenore and the Odenwald police from the room.
Everyone agreed it was best to keep Geoffrey calm. Lenore’s family would drive her home and come back in the morning. She, her father, and her aunts began to leave when police from Wurtzburg arrived and asked for her.
The Wurtzburg police expressed regrets about Geoffrey. Lenore thanked the officer and shared everyone’s efforts to keep him calm.
“He is beyond calm,” said the Wurtzburg officer. “His car and body were pulled from a ravine on Route Thirty-one. He was pronounced dead at the scene.”
The doctor rushed into Geoffrey’s room and a moment later staggered back with impossible news: Lenore’s fiancé was gone.
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You have listened to Episode Two titled HER SURPRISE.
Theme music is through the courtesy of Nicky.
William Spear wrote and narrated the series and it was produced by The Three Fifty-seven.
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Hello . . . and welcome to the Three Fifty-seven.
My name is William Spear and this is our series titled THE GHOSTLY GROOM. It is inspired by, and interpreted from, Washington Irving’s THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM published in 1819.
Lenore Katzenellen, the central character, is the 45-year-old founder and president of a financial analysis firm in Odenwald, New Jersey. She is engaged to Geoffrey Ochre who lives forty-five minutes upstate in Wurtzburg. Their wedding is being planned by more people than signed the Declaration of Independence. All of whom are staying the night at her place.
Geoffrey is returning from a lengthy business trip and has called Lenore from his car. He should be arriving in half an hour and she prepared him for an all-night session of wedding negotiations.
And now Episode One titled LENORE.
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Lenore ended the conversation with Geoffrey and returned to the spirited discussion of “Proper Utensil Placement for a Traditional Wedding Dinner.” This eleventh session of etiquette and protocol was presided over by her two aunts who repeatedly informed the assembled mass they have organized every family wedding since before Lenore’s birth.
Her father was Baron Katzenellenbogen whose service to various families in Europe resulted in his honorary title. Widowed since Lenore was a toddler, he repeatedly gushed “If only your mother were here to see this.”
At this point, permit a gentle detour. Astute readers and listeners who value good-for-nothing details will note Lenore did not use the centuries-old spelling of “Katzenellenbogen” in her last name. She discarded it for contemporary and professional purposes. However, with her tradition-steeped aunts building a wedding ceremony to be remembered for generations, she agreed the ancient family name of Katzenellenbogen could be used. Back to the story.
In the midst of debating which relations by blood and marriage should receive an invitation, and at which tables they should be placed, there was a knock on the door. It was a uniformed officer of the Odenwald police department asking for Lenore. She made her way to the door and was informed a man in critical condition was in a local hospital and needed her assistance.
What might an unfortunate, anonymous man possibly have to do with her? The officer responded there was reason to believe it was Geoffrey Ochre.
“Reason to believe?” she asked. “His face was badly damaged, ma’am,” said the officer. “Please come at once.”
This news caused a general uproar. Gasps and “Oh, noes!” were everywhere and a few younger family members fainted. The aunts determined they would drive to “reduce the stress on our poor Lenore.”
Their “poor Lenore” was ready before the aunts finished refreshing their appearances. To give them more time, Lenore offered to drive. They, the Baron, and Lenore piled into her car and followed the officer.
At the hospital, a doctor and another police officer met the family and more details were learned. A motorist found him lying on the side of the road unconscious and covered in blood. When paramedics arrived, he regained consciousness and repeated wildly, “Lenore. Lenore. Must speak with Lenore.” He had passed out again.
Lenore peeked in and winced at the bandaged face, shoulders, and arms.
“How will I recognize him?” she asked.
The police officer approached with an evidence bag and asked her to identify the contents. Inside were a billfold and mobile phone. She examined both and confirmed, reluctantly, they were Geoffrey’s. She touched his belongings to her forehead and breathed deeply.
The doctor continued: “The slightest shock could be fatal . . . but-“
“Go on,” insisted Lenore.
“He desperately wants to talk to you. Life and death he said. Calls your name over and over and over,” said the doctor.
“Such love and commitment can keep one from crossing the threshold of death,” cooed the aunts dabbing tears from the corners of their eyes.
From his room, Geoffrey yelled: “Is that her? Lenore? Lenore!”
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You have read or listened to Episode One titled Lenore.
Theme music is through the courtesy of Nicky.
William Spear wrote and narrated the series and it was produced by The Three Fifty-seven.
A regular accounting of The Three Fifty-seven published on the first Monday of each month.
This is The Month Ahead for April 2024
Hello, All,
February’s recording experiments yielded a simplified and reversed process for editing audio. It also produced cleaner audio.
However, rather than shortening editing times, the new approach has encouraged longer recordings. Rest assured this is still short form audio fiction. But, for a channel that started with average run times of less than four minutes, we are comfortably exceeding five and six minutes per episode. This could come in handy in future shows.
Another outcome of fine-tuning is that writing is a couple of weeks ahead of audio. Is there any impact? I don’t know. Perhaps not. One more note: the intended recordings of Shakespeare’s love sonnets did not happen. Put those into the future projects column.
However, episodes five through eight of SEVENTEEN were published in March. Taglined “He’s dying to forget. She lives to remember.” these were the conclusion of Severin Vincent Tennyson’s story which started in March of 2023. Nicknamed Tenny, he is a sixty-four-year-old, non-verbal, cane-using janitor at Gunderson High School in central New Jersey. Seeing now-Superintendent Millicent di Stefano for the first time since high school forty years ago triggered a flood of memories that threatened his life.
THE GHOSTLY GROOM is inspired by, and interpreted from, Washington Irving’s THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM published in 1819.
For April, The Three Fifty-seven is pleased to announce THE GHOSTLY GROOM. It is inspired by, and interpreted from, Washington Irving’s THE SPECTRE BRIDEGROOM published in 1819.
With the tagline “His altar was the grave.”, we show a healthy respect for the original text while gently updating it. The story’s lead, Lenore Katzenellen, is the 45-year-old founder and president of a financial analysis firm in Odenwald, New Jersey. She is engaged to Geoffrey Ochre who lives forty-five minutes upstate in Wurtzburg.
A bad automobile accident puts Geoffrey in a hospital where he announces he is dead. Lenore sets off the solve the mystery. But what truth does she find? THE GHOSTY GROOM’s five episodes will answer the question.
One more detail about April: Ingmar Bergman’s THE SEVENTH SEAL (1957) continues to inspire. Fans of the movie will recall Max von Sydow playing a game of chess with Death (played by Bengt Ekerot).
Fast forward to 2024. Death is a subsidiary of The Four Horsemen, Incorporated collecting tortured and tormented souls. What would that story be and how would it unfold? In five minutes! As a comedy!
Until then, look for the first audio and written episode of THE GHOSTLY GROOM. We hope Mr. Irving approves. And, no matter what happens, please know The Three Fifty-seven remains committed to its core belief that “Stories are Everywhere”.
The 3:57 by William E. Spear - a fiction channel 