A Phantom of the Opera Reading List

September 27, 2024

Literature

Nesha Ruther

Writer at Bond & Grace

Fall and winter is Phantom season! Here are ten haunting, eerie, and musical recommendations to read once you have finished Gaston Leroux’s novel and watched Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical for the dozenth time!

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle

Gaston Leroux deeply admired Arthut Conan Doyle and began as a mystery and thriller writer before he veered into the supernatural. He would no doubt love mystery master Arthur Conan Doyla and his iconic hero Sherlock Holmes.

The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe

Edgar Allen Poe was another enormous influence on Leroux, and in The Fall of the House of Usher, we see where Leroux learned to blend magic and mystery. This iconic short story collection in Poe at his strongest, and the haunting story of the Usher’s commeupance continues to terrify today.

The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo

Leroux’s 1909 novel has so many similarities to Hugo’s 1831 story we can safely assume it was an influence. A tragic protagonist is spurned and rejected by the beautiful young woman he adores due to his physical difference and seeks safety in an iconic Paris landmark, c’mon.

Carmilla by J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Dracula would, naturally, be a safe choice, but here at Bond & Grace we like to take risks. Carmilla actually predates Bram Stoker’s novel by twenty-six years and imagines the titular vampire as a beautiful woman. See, men aren’t the only ones who can be monstrous!

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

If you have complicated feelings for hideous but sympathetic men who make questionable life choices we know you’ll like this classic. Mary Shelley’s Creature makes Erik look like a Victoria’s Secret Model and his tragic carnival childhood look like a walk in the park.

The Phantom’s Apprentice by Heather Webb

Stepping into more modern iterations, The Phantom’s Apprentice is a fun and creative re-telling of Leroux’s novel that imagines Chrisitne not only as a vocalist, but an illusionist, forced to choose between music and magic.

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

If We Were Villians is a modern gothic campus novel that centers around a group of intense, competitive, and emotionally incestuous Shakespeare students. While it is more similar to The Secret History than anything else, we think Leroux would enjoy the theatre connection and the commentary on the destructive nature of desire.

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever

Speaking of the destructive nature of desire, this taut and tense novel follows two young men, Paul and Julian, as they descend into an increasingly toxic relationship. A haunting novel about the pain we are capable of inflicting on one another, Leroux would love this masterclass in writing desire and obsession.

Theatre of Marvels by Luanne Dillsworth

Set in Victorian London, a young biracial actress named Zilla makes a living pretending to be “The Great Amazonia--a savage from deepest, darkest, Africa.” All Zilla wants is to move up in the world, but when a new act is introduced, only to subsequently disappear, Zilla must confront who she is and who she wants to be.

Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand

Curious Toys challenges gender, identity, and monstorsity amid the chaos, hubbub, and magic of 1915 Chicago. The daughter of a carnival fortune teller, 14-year-old Pin passes as a boy to haunt the streets and stalk the path of a myserious serial killer who has left a trail of little girls in his terrible wake.

Happy reading, and keep your ears tuned for music of the night!