In the novel Erik uses a subterranean lake underneath the opera house to his purposes. He rows across the lake in a small boat to reach his hidden home. The real lake was discovered during the construction of the opera house. It was impossible to pump all the water out so an underground water tank was constructed to counterbalance the pressure. Currently the opera house gives tours to those who wish to see more of the opera. Unfortunately the lake is currently off limits to tourist’s eyes.

People really did believe the Opera Garneir was haunted at the time Leroux wrote his book. The meaning for phantom in French is ghost. Like the novel, performers did place a horseshoe above the entrance to the right stage wing for good luck but also to protect them from the ghost. Some performers believed at the time that someone, or people, could be secretly living in the opera house. The most compelling similarity to the novel was from witnesses who said they saw this “phantom,” running through different parts of the opera house. He was said to be wearing a black cape and mask.

The most controversial fact surrounding the phantom is the one given by Renata de Waele. In 1993 she wrote a narrative. Waele worked in public relations at the Opera Garneir for many years. She claimed that the story was based on a legend that could be supported by facts. The legend goes something like this. There was a man named Erik born with a deformed face in the village of Normandy, near Rouen. He was abandoned by his parents and worked for seven years in a circus as an attraction. He escaped to Persia and worked as an entertainer and then architect for the Shah. He returned to France and was hired as one of the contractors by Charles Garnier, to build the new Opera Garnier. He was a gentleman that wore a mask and had his own personal box in the opera house, box 5. There was a hollow column built specifically for him next to it, where he could come and go without being seen. Erik fell in love with a singer who performed at the opera Garnier. He apparently kidnapped the singer an evening after a performance. He was rejected by her and she was found three weeks later. Shortly afterwards she left Paris. The article claims that, according to “legend,” Erik was so heartbroken, in an act of grief, he walled up the door to his apartment beneath the opera house and died of starvation. Is this legend true? There has been some speculation that Renata made up this false anecdote to promote the popularity of the opera house. Was Gaston Leroux basing his story off this legend? Gaston Leroux claimed that the names he used in the novel were pseudonyms. If this legend did exist, did it have any basis in truth? It remains unknown if there is factual evidence in France to support it.