The Curse of Capistrano is a 1919 serialized novel by Johnston McCulley and the first work to feature the fictional Californio character Zorro (zorro is the Spanish word for fox). It would be later published as a book in 1924 under the title The Mark of Zorro.Before being published in book form, The Curse of Capistrano appeared as five serialized installments in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly.After the enormous success of the 1920 film adaptation, The Mark of Zorro, the story was republished under that name by Grosset & Dunlap in 1924.The book tells of the story of Californio Don Diego Vega, alias 'Señor Zorro', in the company of his deaf and mute servant Bernardo and his lover Lolita Pulido, as they oppose the villainous Captain Ramon and Sgt. Gonzales in early 19th-century California during the era of Mexican rule, before it became a U.S. state (see Alta California).