
He inherited millions of francs and lived wildly until he nearly reached bankruptcy. Leroux went to school in Normandy and studied law in Paris, graduating in 1889. It was also the basis of the 1990 novel Phantom by Susan Kay.

In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera ( Le Fantôme de l'Opéra, 1910), which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, such as the 1925 film starring Lon Chaney, and Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1986 musical. Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction. Despite this, it remains a remarkable piece of Gothic horror literature in and of itself, deeper and darker than any version that follows. Leroux's work, with characters ranging from the spoiled prima donna Carlotta to the mysterious Persian from Erik's past, has been immortalized by memorable adaptations. The phantom is in love, but it can only spell disaster. The voice, who is the deformed, murderous 'ghost' of the opera house named Erik, however, grows violent in his terrible jealousy, until Christine suddenly disappears. All goes well until Christine's childhood friend Raoul comes to visit his parents, who are patrons of the opera, and he sees Christine when she begins successfully singing on the stage.

After a time at the opera house, she begins hearing a voice, who eventually teaches her how to sing beautifully. Her father, a famous musician, dies, and she is raised in the Paris Opera House with his dying promise of a protective angel of music to guide her.

First published in French as a serial in 1909, The Phantom of the Opera is a riveting story that revolves around the young, Swedish Christine Daaé.
