A skeleton in dinner dress is wreaking havoc among singers and staff at the Paris Opera House and when new owners take over the terror escalates. Who is the mysterious figures stalking the stage at night? How can he be everywhere at once and leave locked rooms at will? What is his connection to the beautiful young musician Christine? Stage and screen adaptations of The Phantom of the Opera have maintained the book's popularity, but the novel outdoes them all in Gothic tension and horror.With an Afterword by Peter Harness.

Author Biography

Gaston Leroux was born in Paris in 1868. He grew up on the Normandy coast, where he developed a passion for fishing and sailing. Upon reaching adulthood, he qualified as a lawyer, but, upon his father's death, his received a large inheritance, and left the law to become a writer. He first found fame as an investigative reporter on L'Echo de Paris, and travelled the world in a variety of disguises, reporting on a wide range of topics from volcanic eruptions to palace revolutions. In 1907, he changed career once again, and started work as a novelist, finding critical and commercial success with works such as The Mystery of the Yellow Room (1907) and The Phantom of the Opera (1911). Leroux continued to be a prolific writer until his death in 1927 - the result of complications following an operation.