"If I am the phantom, it is because man's hatred has made me so. If I am to be saved it is because your love redeems me."
--- Gaston Leroux, The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serialisation in Le Gaulois from September 23, 1909 to January 8, 1910. It was published in volume form in April 1910 by Pierre Lafitte. The novel is partly inspired by historical events at the Paris Opera during the nineteenth century and an apocryphal tale concerning the use of a former ballet pupil's skeleton...

Reporter and amateur sleuth Joseph Rouletabille is sent to investigate a criminal case at the Chateau du Glandier and takes along his friend the lawyer Sainclair, who narrates. Mathilde Stangerson, the 30-something daughter of the castle's owner, Professor Joseph Stangerson, was found near-critically battered in a room adjacent to his laboratory on the castle grounds, with the door still locked from the inside. She recovers slowly but can make no useful testimony. Rouletabille meets and interrogates several characters: the castle's concierges Mr & Mrs Bernier, the old servant Jacques, an...

Opera singer Christine triumphs at the gala on the night of the old managers' retirement. Her old childhood friend, Raoul, hears her sing and recalls his love for Christine. At this time there are rumors of a phantom living at the Opera and he makes himself known to the managers through letters and malevolent acts. Some time after the gala, the Paris Opera performs Faust, with the prima donna Carlotta playing the lead, against the Phantom's wishes. During the performance Carlotta loses her voice and the grand chandelier plummets into the audience...

"I WAS passing through the waiting-room of the Morning Journal on a certain evening last year when my attention was drawn to a man seated in a corner. He was dressed in black and his appearance was that of the deepest dejection. In fact upon his face I read the most melancholy despair. He was not weeping, his eyes were dry and almost expressionless and received the impression of exterior objects like motionless ice. He had placed upon his knees a small oaken chest, ornamented with ironwork. His hands were crossed over this object and hung down, accentuating his dejected appearance."

English translation of Le Fantome de l'Opera. An opera house and a young singer are "haunted" by a mysterious person who calls himself the Opera Ghost."

"BARINIA, the young stranger has arrived." "Where is he?" "Oh, he is waiting at the lodge." "I told you to show him to Natacha's sitting-room. Didn't you understand me, Ermolai?" "Pardon, Barinia, but the young stranger, when I asked to search him, as you directed, flatly refused to let me." "Did you explain to him that everybody is searched before being allowed to enter, that it is the order, and that even my mother herself has submitted to it?" "I told him all that, Barinia; and I told him about madame your mother." "What did he say to that?" "That he was not madame your mother. He acted...

A locked room mystery. Rouletabille Mysteries #1.

For years the Paris Opera House has been haunted by the Opera Ghost, a mysterious figure who has been tutoring the beautiful young singer Christine Daae for reasons unknown. But when the Opera passes into the hands of managers who scoff at the phantom's demands, and Christine's childhood friend, the Viscount Raoul de Chagny arrives to claim her hand in marriage, the enraged phantom mounts a campaign of terror that threatens to bring down the Opera House forever . . . Rediscover Gaston Leroux's classic novel, a thrilling tale of love, revenge, and redemption that went on to become the...

"Le Fantome de l'Opera" de Gaston Leroux. Gaston Leroux, romancier francais (1868-1927)."

"Le Fauteuil hante" de Gaston Leroux. Gaston Leroux, romancier francais (1868-1927)."