diff --git a/extra/farkup/farkup-tests.factor b/extra/farkup/farkup-tests.factor
index 1964b2b8a6..4d418ab99c 100644
--- a/extra/farkup/farkup-tests.factor
+++ b/extra/farkup/farkup-tests.factor
@@ -2,11 +2,15 @@ USING: farkup kernel tools.test ;
 IN: temporary
 
 [ "<ul><li>foo</li></ul>" ] [ "-foo" parse-farkup ] unit-test
-[ "<ul><li>foo</li></ul>" ] [ "-foo\n" parse-farkup ] unit-test
+[ "<ul><li>foo</li></ul>\n" ] [ "-foo\n" parse-farkup ] unit-test
 [ "<ul><li>foo</li><li>bar</li></ul>" ] [ "-foo\n-bar" parse-farkup ] unit-test
-[ "<ul><li>foo</li><li>bar</li></ul>" ] [ "-foo\n-bar\n" parse-farkup ] unit-test
+[ "<ul><li>foo</li><li>bar</li></ul>\n" ] [ "-foo\n-bar\n" parse-farkup ] unit-test
 
-[ "<ul><li>foo</li></ul><p>bar</p>" ] [ "-foo\nbar\n" parse-farkup ] unit-test
-[ "*foo\nbar\n" parse-farkup ] must-fail
+[ "<ul><li>foo</li></ul><p>\nbar\n</p>" ] [ "-foo\nbar\n" parse-farkup ] unit-test
+[ "<p>*foo\nbar\n</p>" ] [ "*foo\nbar\n" parse-farkup ] unit-test
 [ "<p><strong>Wow!</strong></p>" ] [ "*Wow!*" parse-farkup ] unit-test
 [ "<p><em>Wow.</em></p>" ] [ "_Wow._" parse-farkup ] unit-test
+
+[ "<p>*</p>" ] [ "*" parse-farkup ] unit-test
+[ "<p>*</p>" ] [ "\\*" parse-farkup ] unit-test
+[ "<p>**</p>" ] [ "\\**" parse-farkup ] unit-test
diff --git a/extra/farkup/farkup.factor b/extra/farkup/farkup.factor
index 084b1c80cb..ff39606853 100644
--- a/extra/farkup/farkup.factor
+++ b/extra/farkup/farkup.factor
@@ -3,16 +3,24 @@
 USING: arrays io kernel memoize namespaces peg
 peg.ebnf sequences strings html.elements xml.entities
 xmode.code2html splitting io.streams.string html
-html.elements sequences.deep unicode.categories ;
+html.elements sequences.deep ascii ;
+! unicode.categories ;
 USE: tools.walker
 IN: farkup
 
 MEMO: any-char ( -- parser ) [ drop t ] satisfy ;
 
+: delimiters ( -- string )
+    "*_^~%=[-|\\\n" ; inline
+
 MEMO: text ( -- parser )
-    [ "*_^~%=[-|\n" member? not ] satisfy repeat1
+    [ delimiters member? not ] satisfy repeat1
     [ >string escape-string ] action ;
 
+MEMO: delimiter ( -- parser )
+    [ dup delimiters member? swap CHAR: \n = not and ] satisfy
+    [ 1string ] action ;
+
 : delimited ( str html -- parser )
     [
         over token hide ,
@@ -20,6 +28,9 @@ MEMO: text ( -- parser )
         token hide ,
     ] seq* ;
 
+MEMO: escaped-char ( -- parser )
+    [ "\\" token hide , any-char , ] seq* [ >string ] action ;
+
 MEMO: strong ( -- parser ) "*" "strong" delimited ;
 MEMO: emphasis ( -- parser ) "_" "em" delimited ;
 MEMO: superscript ( -- parser ) "^" "sup" delimited ;
@@ -89,16 +100,17 @@ MEMO: line ( -- parser )
     [
         text , strong , emphasis , link ,
         superscript , subscript , inline-code ,
+        escaped-char , delimiter ,
     ] choice* repeat1 ;
 
 MEMO: paragraph ( -- parser )
     [
-        line [
-            dup [ [ blank? ] all? ] deep-all?
-            [ "<p>" swap "</p>" 3array ] unless
-        ] action ,
-        "\n" token hide ,
-    ] choice* ;
+        line ,
+        "\n" token ,
+    ] choice* repeat1 [
+        dup [ dup string? not swap [ blank? ] all? or ] deep-all?
+        [ "<p>" swap "</p>" 3array ] unless
+    ] action ;
 
 MEMO: farkup ( -- parser )
     [