He then started as a freelance writer, and eventually was appointed as a critic by a Parisian newspaper.

This was the start of a journalistic career, followed by worlwide missions at Le Matin, which brought Gaston as far as to Egypt and Korea. In Russia, in 1905, he covered the first turbulences of the Revolution.

Meanwhile, he had married and divorced, but, mainly, published four novels. He had to wait for the fifth to meet with fame in 1907: The Mystery of The Yellow Room (Le Mystere de la Chambre Jaune).

He was not only an Opera lover, but also fascinated by the magnificient and extravagant architecture of the Opera de Paris.

When Gaston Leroux left his journalistic career in 1909 to devote himself entirely to writing, during his reporter's various missions, he had visited every corner of the Opera de Paris, far beyond the scope of his reporter's tasks, using and abusing of his journalistic credentials .

The Phantom of the Opera, his masterpiece, is born from his journalistic comments on the accident at the Opera de Paris where one of the counter-weights of the impressive chandelier had fallen on the head of a director.

Adding a phantom, and thanks to his incredible knowledge of the place, Leroux, with his accurate descriptions, made his audience wonder if his novel was not reflecting a true story.