One of the most enduring legends of Paris, closely embedded in the heart of the 9th arrondissement, particularly around the Palais Garnier, is the story of the Phantom of the Opera. The Palais Garnier, with its opulence, chandeliers, and grand staircase, inspires not only admiration but also stories of the surreal. The opera house was commissioned by Napoleon III as a part of his grand reconstruction plan of Paris and was designed by Charles Garnier. But the venue is perhaps most famous for its uninvited inhabitant, the Phantom. The entire saga began with the publication of Gaston Leroux’s novel, ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ in 1910. In the novel, Erik, the Phantom, is a brilliant but disfigured composer who lives in the catacombs beneath the opera house to hide his deformity from the world. He falls in love with a beautiful soprano, Christine Daaé, and aids her singing career while terrorizing the rest of the opera house and demanding that Christine be given leading roles. The opera house did have several mysterious accidents and also had an underground lake, giving some credence to the story, even though it is generally considered a work of fiction. The story then was picked up and became a world-famous musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Nevertheless, the tale of the masked ghost, forever bound to the building, continues to haunt and engage the imagination of Parisians and visitors alike.