The Phantom of the Opera (Haunted Library of Horror Classics)
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The Phantom of the Opera (Haunted Library of Horror Classics)

The Phantom of the Opera (Haunted Library of Horror Classics)

Overview

"One of the most famous ghost stories that no one has actually read" (New York Times), The Phantom of the Opera is the first in the Haunted Library Horror Classics series presented by the Horror Writers Association. An unabridged edition of the novel that inspired the famous Andrew Lloyd Webber musical.

Deep beneath the Paris Opera House, a masked man lives in silence…

Every night at the Palais Garnier, hundreds of guests sit on the edge of velvet-covered seats, waiting for prima donna La Carlotta to take the stage. But when her voice fails her, La Carlotta is replaced with unknown understudy Christine Daaé, a young soprano whose vibrant singing fills every corner of the house and wins her a slew of admirers, including an old childhood friend who soon professes his love for her. But unknown to Christine is another man, who lurks out of sight behind the heavy curtains of the opera, who can move about the building undetected, who will do anything to make sure Christine will keep singing just for him…

This curated edition of The Phantom of the Opera, based on the original 1911 English translation by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, brings an iconic story of love and obsession to today's readers and illuminates the timeless appeal of Leroux's masterpiece.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781492699682
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication date: 01/07/2020
Series: Haunted Library of Horror Classics Series
Pages: 304
Sales rank: 257,225
Product dimensions: 8.40(w) x 5.20(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Gaston Leroux was a French journalist and playwright. Born in Paris in 1868, he abandoned a law career to become a court reporter and theater critic; as an international correspondent, he witnessed and covered the 1905 Russian Revolution. Two years later, Leroux left journalism to focus on writing fiction. He authored dozens of novels and short stories, and is considered one of the preeminent French writers of detective fiction. His most famous work, The Phantom of the Opera, was originally serialized in 1909 and 1910. He died in 1927.
 

Alexander Teixeira de Mattos (1865–1921) was Dutch-English translator and writer.

Read an Excerpt

1.
(Continues…)


Excerpted from "The Phantom of the Opera"
by .
Copyright © 2012 Gaston Leroux.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS
PROLOGUE 3
CHAPTER I: IS IT THE GHOST? 5
CHAPTER II: THE NEW MARGARITA 9
CHAPTER III: THE MYSTERIOUS REASON 13
CHAPTER IV: BOX FIVE 16
CHAPTER V: THE ENCHANTED VIOLIN 22
CHAPTER VI: A VISIT TO BOX FIVE 28
CHAPTER VII: FAUST AND WHAT FOLLOWED 29
CHAPTER VIII: THE MYSTERIOUS BROUGHAM 36
CHAPTER IX: AT THE MASKED BALL 39
CHAPTER X: FORGET THE NAME OF THE MAN'S VOICE 43
CHAPTER XI: ABOVE THE TRAP-DOORS 46
CHAPTER XII: APOLLO'S LYRE 49
CHAPTER XIII: A MASTER-STROKE OF THE TRAP-DOOR LOVER 57
CHAPTER XIV: THE SINGULAR ATTITUDE OF A SAFETY-PIN 62
CHAPTER XV: CHRISTINE! CHRISTINE! 64
CHAPTER XVI: MME. GIRY'S ASTOUNDING REVELATIONS AS TO HER PERSONAL RELATIONS WITH THE OPERA GHOST 66
CHAPTER XVII: THE SAFETY-PIN AGAIN 71
CHAPTER XVIII: THE COMMISSARY, THE VISCOUNT AND THE PERSIAN 74
CHAPTER XIX: THE VISCOUNT AND THE PERSIAN 77
CHAPTER XX: IN THE CELLARS OF THE OPERA 80
CHAPTER XXI: INTERESTING AND INSTRUCTIVE VICISSITUDES OF A PERSIAN IN THE CELLARS OF THE OPERA 86
CHAPTER XXII: IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER 91
CHAPTER XXIII: THE TORTURES BEGIN 94
CHAPTER XXIV: "BARRELS! ... BARRELS! ... ANY BARRELS TO SELL?" 97
CHAPTER XXV: THE SCORPION OR THE GRASSHOPPER: WHICH? 101
CHAPTER XXVI: THE END OF THE GHOST'S LOVE STORY 104
EPILOGUE 108

Reading Group Guide

1. 1. Some modern critics feel the characters in The Phantom of the Opera are static and shallow, that Christine is too innocent, Raoul too noble, and Erik’s obsession with Christine never fully explained. Do you think Leroux purposely did this, and if so, why?

2. 2. The Phantom of the Opera was published as the romantic movement was slowly turning into the gothic movement. How would you classify it?

3. 3. Leroux wrote The Phantom of the Opera in a time when there was widespread French interest in Freudian psychoanalysis and particularly the libidinal/infantile/mother-seeking unconscious. How does Leroux work this into his novel? Are there characters that fit the infant or mother role?

4. 4. Some critics see the Phantom as simply the unconscious, the Freudian superego. Do you believe this is what Leroux was truly writing about, or did he give his monster more depth?

5. 5. Some see Erik as not shifting his class status, the theme of many gothic novels, but instead shifting his race. What scenes in the text help, or hinder, this assessment? Why would Leroux write of something so controversial?

6. 6. One of Leroux’s major themes in this novel is the changing of one’s class. Consider Christine, the daughter of a fairground fiddle player, now besting the most talented opera singer in Paris and winning the heart of a viscount. What is Leroux saying here? Is it meant to simply be a happy ending?

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