Fantômas, Lord of Terror

Who is Fantômas?

Fantômas is the Lord of Terror, the Genius of Evil, the arch-criminal anti-hero of a series of 32 pre-WWI French thrillers written by Pierre Souvestre and Marcel Allain. He carries out the most appalling crimes: substituting sulfuric acid in the perfume dispensers at a Parisian department store, releasing plague-infested rats on an ocean liner, or forcing a victim to witness his own execution by placing him face-up in a guillotine. Fantômas is the master of a thousand disguises and the leader of a vast army of "apaches" (street thugs). His spies and henchmen are everywhere, spreading the seeds of chaos and terror. Fantômas is anyone and no one, everywhere and nowhere, waging an implacable war against the very bourgeois society in which he moves with such ease and assurance.

The Wikipedia article credits Fantômas with making the transition from Gothic arch-villains to modern day literary serial killers.

I had never heard of Fantômas before, but after reading about the character and looking over the lurid genius of Gino Starace's Fantômas covers, I desperately want to acquaint myself with him. Most of the books seem either out of print or not available in English, but I see that it's a great time to have my interest piqued: Penguin Classics is releasing the first volume of >Fantômas' adventures later this month.

FantômasLives [Fan Site]