Regina dell’Oscurita (Queen of Shadow) by Irene Colabianchi is a modern-day retelling of the story, written in Italian, set in Moscow with a heroine performing as Christine in an operatic adaptation of the story meeting a real-life “opera ghost” at the Bolshoi Theatre who begins to mentor her in her performance.
The Phantom of the Opera: A Photonovel by Lisandro Cottet is an adaptation of the original story in a comic book-esque style, using photos and stills from the 1925 film adaptation with captions. It’s an interesting new way of remixing previous versions and I look forward to reading it!
Murder at the Met by Edward Gray is set in the modern day at New York’s Metropolitan Museum, where a man is hanged from the chandelier in the middle of a performance and the search for the killer reveals a familiarly complicated web of intrigue in the opera house itself.
Puppets by Jenna Ryan is not a new release - it’s from back in the mists of 1992, but I just discovered it so I’m trotting it out for all of you, too. In it, the story is set at the “Paris Puppet Theater” with a heroine who performs as a human puppet, and the Phantom who lurks beneath it and is obsessed with her is, oddly enough, named Raul... (Jenna Ryan also wrote the novel Masquerade, a bizarrely campy Clue-like romance version of the story.)
February may bring more, since it’ll be Valentine’s season. Bring on the romance versions, everybody!