The Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera, a gripping tale centered on the youthful Swedish Christine Daaé, was first published in French as a serial in 1909. After the death of her well-known musician father, she is reared at the Paris Opera House with the last words of a guardian angel of music. She finally learns how to sing brilliantly from the voice she eventually starts hearing after some time at the opera theater. Everything is going well until Raoul, Christine's childhood friend, arrives to meet his opera-loving parents and spots Christine as she starts to sing well on stage. However, the voice—that of Erik, the disfigured, deadly "ghost" of the opera house—becomes violent in his dreadful jealousy, and Christine vanishes out of nowhere. The ghost is in love, but this relationship can only end badly.

Memorable versions have immortalized Leroux's work, which has characters ranging from the pampered prima donna Carlotta to the enigmatic Persian from Erik's past. Even so, it is nevertheless a singular work of Gothic horror fiction, more profound and sinister than any that comes after.