  We study the spectrum of $W_3$ strings. In particular, we show that for
appropriately chosen space-time signature, one of the scalar fields is singled
out by the spin-3 constraint and is ``frozen'': no creation operators from it
can appear in physical states and the corresponding momentum must assume a
specific fixed value. The remaining theory is unitary and resembles an ordinary
string theory in $d\ne26$ with anomalies cancelled by appropriate background
charges. In the case of the $W_3$ string, however, the spin-two ``graviton'' is
massive.
