It’s spring, which apparently means we’re all too busy out frolicking in the sunshine for new Phantom adaptations, but we’ve got a couple!
Cacophonous Melody by Alyssa B. Cole is a modern-day sequel to the story that is taking some... well, some approaches. Erik is Christine’s former music teacher, who kidnapped her and held her in a basement; after she escaped, the book starts with Erik having gone to get reconstructive surgery to give him a normal appearance and finding her in her new life at college to try to convince her to give him another chance. The cover copy says it deals with a lot of themes regarding abusive relationships, so maybe these things will be addressed.
The Phantom Blonde by Thomas McNulty is kind of a question mark - it’s a 1940s hardboiled detective saga set in Hollywood, looking at the disappearance of a silent screen actor several years before who seems to be haunting the area. I’m not 100% sure it’s Phantom-related, but it’s got a haunting secret figure, it might be riffing on several Hollywood-themed previous adaptations or referring to Lon Chaney, and it has Phantom in the title, so it merits further investigation!
Aria at the Opera by Kendra Merritt is a modern-day adaptation following an orphaned aspiring opera singer who is trying to get her big break only to find that some haunting force is harassing the opera house and targeting lead sopranos. Interestingly, she could be either Christine or Carlotta, since she seems personally worried that the mystery is going to try to kill her to get her off the stage.
Ominous Objects: Phantom Reflection from Daily Magic Productions is another hidden-object game, the genre that launched a thousand adaptations, and like The Phantom Blonde above is slightly questionable about its relationship to the story. It involves a cursed mirror, sent to a woman who has now gone missing, and the strange obsession of the person who may or may not have abducted her through it.
And that’s all this time, so we’ll look forward to seeing how May tops it!
