The Phantom of the Opera

The first novel by Gaston Leroux (1868-1927) was published in a newspaper, while he was a renowned journalist, a reporter who had been to Spain, Morocco, and even covered the Russian Revolution of 1905. Leroux became a recognized master of detective fiction, created the detective Joseph Rouletabille, who rivaled Sherlock Holmes, and even founded a film company. The novels of the French writer (especially "The Mystery of the Yellow Room") delighted the surrealists, with admirers of his work including Sergey Eisenstein and Jorge Luis Borges.
Mysterious events take place in the Paris Opera House: decorations collapse, people perish. Rumors circulate that this is all the work of the mysterious Phantom...
Based on the novel, the famous Broadway musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber "The Phantom of the Opera" was produced.