The translation I've read he's called ""the Opera Ghost"" (or Erik), and what the hell are you on about it isn't gothic fiction? It's about as gothic as fiction gets, for christ's sake. Supernatural plot elements aren't an essential requirement. The Phantom of the Opera is far more part of the gothic tradition than Dracula or Frankenstien ever were.
It's stated in the novel (by the enigmatic Persian who provides a deus ex machina to bail the other characters out) that the ghost used to work for some Persian sheikh who employed him as an architecht, and is the man who designed the opera house.
If you enjoyed Leroux, there's a novel by Susan Kay, called Phantom, which fills in the rest of the details of his history, ands carefully avoids contradicting anything in the original novel."
