the phantom of the opera      gaston leroux The Phantom of the Opera French Le Fantme de lOpra is a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux It was first published as a serialization in Le Gaulois from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910 It was published in volume form in late March 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 pupils skeleton in Carl Maria von Webers 1841 production of Der Freischtz It has been successfully adapted into various stage and film adaptations most notable of which are the 1925 film depiction featuring Lon Chaney and Andrew Lloyd Webbers 1986 musical In Paris in the 1890s the Palais Garnier opera house is believed to be haunted by an entity known as the Phantom of the Opera Ghost A stagehand named Joseph Buquet is found hanged and the rope around his neck goes missing At a gala performance for the retirement of the opera houses two managers a young littleknown Swedish soprano Christine Daa is called upon to sing in the place of the Operas leading soprano Carlotta who is ill and her performance is an astonishing success The Vicomte Raoul de Chagny who was present at the performance recognises her as his childhood playmate and recalls his love for her He attempts to visit her backstage where he hears a man complimenting her from inside her dressing room He investigates the room once Christine leaves only to find it empty