First published in 1910 as a serialization in a French newspaper, Gaston Leroux’s The Phantom of the Opera remains one of the most widely known stories in public knowledge. Indeed, it has inspired countless adaptations, ranging from operas, to silent movies, to parodies, to TV shows for kids. By far the most famous adaptation is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical by the same name, which has remained the longest-running musical of all time on Broadway since 2005.
However, Leroux’s original book is often overlooked amongst the fame of the source material’s adaptations. Gaston Leroux was inspired to write the book as a result of a tour of the Paris Opera House, in which he was invited to...
