The Phantom of the Opera
by
Gaston Leroux
Author of "The Mystery of the Yellow Room" and
"The Perfume of the Lady in Black"
Contents
Chapter
PROLOGUE
I
IS IT A GHOST?
II
THE NEW MARGARITA
III
THE MYSTERIOUS REASON
IV
BOX FIVE
V
THE ENCHANTED VIOLIN
VI
A VISIT TO BOX FIVE
VII
FAUST AND WHAT FOLLOWED
VIII
THE MYSTERIOUS BROUGHAM
IX
AT THE MASKED BALL
X
FORGET THE NAME OF THE MAN'S VOICE
XI
ABOVE THE TRAP-DOORS
XII
APOLLO'S LYRE
XIII
A MASTER-STROKE OF THE TRAP-DOOR LOVER
XIV
THE SINGULAR ATTITUDE OF A SAFETY-PIN
XV
CHRISTINE! CHRISTINE!
XVI
MME. GIRY'S REVELATIONS
XVII
THE SAFETY-PIN AGAIN
XVIII
THE COMMISSARY, THE VISCOUNT AND THE PERSIAN
XIX
THE VISCOUNT AND THE PERSIAN
XX
IN THE CELLARS OF THE OPERA
XXI
INTERESTING VICISSITUDES
XXII
IN THE TORTURE CHAMBER
XXIII
THE TORTURES BEGIN
XXIV
BARRELS! BARRELS!
XXV
THE SCORPION OR THE GRASSHOPPER: WHICH
XXVI
THE END OF THE GHOST'S LOVE STORY
EPILOGUE
(plus a "bonus chapter" called "THE PARIS OPERA HOUSE")
The Phantom of the Opera
Prologue
IN WHICH THE AUTHOR OF THIS SINGULAR WORK INFORMS THE READER HOW HE ACQUIRED THE CERTAINTY THAT THE OPERA GHOST REALLY EXISTED
The Opera ghost really existed. He was not, as was long believed, a creature of the imagination of the artists, the superstition of the managers, or a product of the absurd and impressionable brains of the young ladies of the ballet, their mothers, the box-keepers, the cloak-room attendants or the concierge. Yes, he existed in flesh and blood, although he assumed the complete appearance of a real phantom; that is to say, of a spectral shade.