Le Fantôme de l’Opéra
Le Fantôme de l’Opéra (The Phantom of the Opera) is one of the most famous Gothic novels ever written, and a classic of the Horror genre. Written by Gaston Leroux as a serial in Le Gaulois in 1909-1910, and a few months later released as a novel, the book was inspired by urban legends surrounding an accident that occurred at the Palais Garnier Opera House in Paris during a representation of Hellé by Étienne-Joseph Floquet, when a fire in the roof melted through a wire holding a counterweight for the chandelier, causing a crash that injured several and killed one.
Using an actual location from the real world draws an interesting parallel with Notre-Dame de Paris in Victor Hugo’s homonymous novel.
Of course, the events and persons presented in the book are completely fictional, but the story is one of the greatest stories you’ll ever read. It’s presented in the first person by a reporter who documents the events after speaking with various characters who take part in them, but the actual events are narrated in the third person.
The mysterious character of The Phantom of The Opera has the same allure as many other Gothic horror figures in the history of literature, reminding the reader of Frankenstein’s monster or Dracula.
What’s extremely fascinating with the storytelling is that Gaston Leroux often wrote elements that made no sense (like the directors of the Opera House going crazy and asking irrational things of the staff), and subsequently backtracked the action and provided a background for the initial events by going back in time and presenting the reasons for them, clarifying they were actually very rational given the context (that had now been cleared up).
I attribute this to the fact he initially wrote it as a serial, because it prevented him from being able to go back and edit his prior chapters whenever he got a new idea, so he employed this storytelling mechanism, and by that he made it even better–he added a type of plot twist that’s not part of the contiguous unfolding of events, but basically happens prior to it being presented to the reader, and when you as a reader finally understand, the experience is enlightening.
Reading this book was an extraordinary learning moment for me, as it helped me understand nothing is set in stone when you write, even the parts that are. You can always take different approaches to the matter and transform things to a degree without even touching what you’ve already written.
The book was adapted countless times to various other media formats, and one of the most intriguing details is that the very first adaptation, the 1915 German movie Das Phantom der Oper, is now a lost film, and there is not even a poster in existence anymore. You see, back in the old days, films were considered of little value after their theatrical run, and as soon as people wouldn’t pay anymore to see a film in the theater, it was discarded.
But while there were many film adaptations, the most famous one is probably Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical from 1986, The Phantom of The Opera. To date, it is the longest-running musical on Broadway (35 years from 1988 before it ended in 2023) and it is still running in London since 1986 at the time I am writing this (2025). And this is not surprising, since the underlying leitmotif of the story is music, as you’d probably expect from a story taking place in an Opera House.
I had the opportunity of attending one of the Phantom of The Opera shows in Bucharest recently, and this was one reason I read this book–I wanted to do my homework. While we have our own, locally produced representation of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical, this time, courtesy of Broadway Entertainment Group and The Really Useful Group, someone up top sent the big guns from London to Bucharest in a re-imagined show of the actual musical, the way it was meant to be enjoyed. And I loved every bit of it!
There were drastic differences from the book, the most peculiar being a character named The Persian completely missing from the show, with a few names changed here and there (the directors), but experiencing it as a musical really amplifies the vibe, therefore I advise you to not miss this chance if you ever get it.
Seeing The Phantom of The Opera as a musical is worth the money.
To conclude, I would put Gaston Leroux’s Le Fantôme de l’Opéra on that classic list of books that you just have to read at least once in your lifetime. Because even though it was written over 100 years ago, it not only holds up, but it continues to send chills down your spine as you read it.
5/5. Go for it.