They were playing "The Spectral Bride" on the internet station today. Gee, that guy is so obsessed with Melinda (his late wife), it's disturbing, lol. The part that bothers me the most is that when he re-marries (after Melinda dies from falling off a horse) there is hardly any mention of the kids he had with his new wife, Anne. He is so selfish and obsessed with his late wife, he doesn't even think about his kids when he tries to bring Melinda back from the dead. He doesn't think about Anne either. Then he brings back Melinda and expects her to be some sort of "kept" woman, so he doesn't even think about her her feelings. I don't blame Melinda for being upset that he brought her back, only to be "the other woman", hiding in shame. The ending is particularly sicko - when Anne commits suicide by jumping over the cliff and she doesn't even stay for the sake of her children.

** SPOILER ALERT ** When he commits suicide at the end, he also says; "Take care of the children...." (Who is going to do that now?) He doesn't seem to think about his kids at all. It's as if the adults don't really care about the kids and they aren't even part of their lives. Sheesh!

I can't understand the motivations of any of these characters! The man's flighty and self-absorbed, Anne doesn't care about her kids as much as making things easy for her two-timing husband, the alchemist knows better but can't say no. Melinda is selfish, but being dead doesn't bring out the best in anyone! The kids are probably better off on their own.

An intriguing, ambitious story that mixes romance, tragedy, politics, and an alchemist's experiments in resurrection. Unfortunately, it asks listeners to become emotionally invested in more characters and motives than a 45-minute show can realistically cram in. A potentially great Gothic chiller that doesn't have the space to realize its goals. Still, an admirable effort by CBSRMT stalwart Ian Martin.

This was a pretty good story, but in all honesty probably required too much imagination from its listener. 3 stars.

I agree with the above comments. What a twisted tale! And what a bunch of self-centered characters! The kids probably grew up to become CBS Radio Mystery writers.

A man falls in love and marries a particular beautiful and captivating woman who is daughter of an alchemist working on the elixir of life. When she dies in a tragic accident within a year of their marriage he recalls his promise to love and care for her for eternity. Eventually he remarries and has a family. Meeting with an old friend they return to the area for a hunting trip together. He is still affected by the memory of his first bride and haunted by the promises the young lovers made to each other. Perhaps at this time the alchemist has found the elixir…

I guess the man never heard the Alchemist mention that he was sustaned by drinking the elxir in small amounts over the years. Uh, duh. When the Alchemist died, did it not occur to the former husband that the once dead bride would only last a short time. It did to me. I woudl have sealed her up in the tomb with her dead father. Three stupid characters. The Alchemist should have finished the sentence. You are better off not waking the dead because when I die there ain't no more elxir, you big dummy. Not a grand spoke story. Too many plot holes. Oh, yeah, someone please take care of the kids. Again, I must stress, accents. I don't believe this took place in the US, right??

In a way, it reminded me of "Miss Saigon" in that a previous wife came back, whom the husband never stopped lvoing. Of course, "Miss Saigon" wasn't a fantasy piece. Stay away from bigamy, it's not just the law, it's a good idea! Raising the dead.

I agree with the comments about how terrible all the main characters seem to be (besides, perhaps, the cousin). I didn't even think about sipping the elixir as Nicole mentioned and it makes sense. However, it doesn't make logical sense if the elixir can make skeletal remains return to life but can't make the old man younger again. It was still an interesting listen, but just not that great of a story overall.

Prelude to "The Corpse Bride"?

I agree with the above comments by Matthew and Mike, (as well as others), so anything I say will be just a repeat of their above comments. But I will add that in addition to the characters not caring much about their kids, the kids aren't even in the episode at all, lol! Where are these kids we keep hearing about and why weren't they in the show? Wouldn't it have been better to leave the kids out of the story altogether, rather than just putting them in as some kind of afterthought? Not one of my favorite episodes, due to poor writing, unnatural dialogue, disappointing acting and a sloppy storyline, etc. Usually, CBSRMT is so much better than this, but I guess they can't have a winner every time. There were so many episodes and most of the ones I've heard were very good.

One of the first eps I might have heard. This guys' obsessed with his first wife, and possibly kills his second wife. Selfish man.

Wow, this was not a favorite of mine. I understand about obsession, but this was just sad! No morals. My question why did Bruce never marry? Hopefully not because of twisted Melinda. And it's good to see comments from men who see this as all kinds of wrong. At least the commercials added something upbeat.

This is the second time I heard this story and liked it even more. It had a real 50s E. C. horror comic/Creepshow vibe to it. Definitely a morality tale of love and desire being warped into damning lust and selfish obsession.

In my opinion, this episode is the very best of all the episodes. It will keep you on the edge of your seat spellbound right until the very end.