diff --git a/test/fix.js b/test/fix.js
index 1988736d..5cc0036a 100644
--- a/test/fix.js
+++ b/test/fix.js
@@ -60,14 +60,3 @@ fs.readdirSync(dir).forEach(function(file) {
 
   fs.writeFileSync(file, html);
 })();
-
-// markdown parses backslashes in a very primitive
-// way because it's not a real parser. i cannot
-// include this test, because marked parses backslashes
-// in a very different way.
-(function(ext) {
-  fs.writeFileSync(dir + '/backslash_escapes.text',
-    'hello world \\[how](are you) today');
-  fs.writeFileSync(dir + '/backslash_escapes.html',
-    '<p>hello world [how](are you) today</p>');
-})();
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index 736f9786..ff7943b8 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -99,13 +99,16 @@ main:
 main.bench = function(name, func) {
   if (!files) {
     load();
-    // remove these as they affect the
+    // change certain tests. to allow
     // comparison to older benchmark times.
     fs.readdirSync(__dirname + '/new').forEach(function(name) {
       if (name.split('.').pop() === 'html') return;
       if (name === 'main.text') return;
       delete files[name];
     });
+    files['backslash_escapes.text'] = {
+      text: 'hello world \\[how](are you) today'
+    };
   }
 
   var start = Date.now()
diff --git a/test/tests/backslash_escapes.html b/test/tests/backslash_escapes.html
index 271c3084..43458738 100644
--- a/test/tests/backslash_escapes.html
+++ b/test/tests/backslash_escapes.html
@@ -1 +1,118 @@
-<p>hello world [how](are you) today</p>
\ No newline at end of file
+<p>These should all get escaped:</p>
+
+<p>Backslash: \</p>
+
+<p>Backtick: `</p>
+
+<p>Asterisk: *</p>
+
+<p>Underscore: _</p>
+
+<p>Left brace: {</p>
+
+<p>Right brace: }</p>
+
+<p>Left bracket: [</p>
+
+<p>Right bracket: ]</p>
+
+<p>Left paren: (</p>
+
+<p>Right paren: )</p>
+
+<p>Greater-than: ></p>
+
+<p>Hash: #</p>
+
+<p>Period: .</p>
+
+<p>Bang: !</p>
+
+<p>Plus: +</p>
+
+<p>Minus: -</p>
+
+<p>These should not, because they occur within a code block:</p>
+
+<pre><code>Backslash: \\
+
+Backtick: \`
+
+Asterisk: \*
+
+Underscore: \_
+
+Left brace: \{
+
+Right brace: \}
+
+Left bracket: \[
+
+Right bracket: \]
+
+Left paren: \(
+
+Right paren: \)
+
+Greater-than: \&gt;
+
+Hash: \#
+
+Period: \.
+
+Bang: \!
+
+Plus: \+
+
+Minus: \-
+</code></pre>
+
+<p>Nor should these, which occur in code spans:</p>
+
+<p>Backslash: <code>\\</code></p>
+
+<p>Backtick: <code>\`</code></p>
+
+<p>Asterisk: <code>\*</code></p>
+
+<p>Underscore: <code>\_</code></p>
+
+<p>Left brace: <code>\{</code></p>
+
+<p>Right brace: <code>\}</code></p>
+
+<p>Left bracket: <code>\[</code></p>
+
+<p>Right bracket: <code>\]</code></p>
+
+<p>Left paren: <code>\(</code></p>
+
+<p>Right paren: <code>\)</code></p>
+
+<p>Greater-than: <code>\&gt;</code></p>
+
+<p>Hash: <code>\#</code></p>
+
+<p>Period: <code>\.</code></p>
+
+<p>Bang: <code>\!</code></p>
+
+<p>Plus: <code>\+</code></p>
+
+<p>Minus: <code>\-</code></p>
+
+
+<p>These should get escaped, even though they&apos;re matching pairs for
+other Markdown constructs:</p>
+
+<p>*asterisks*</p>
+
+<p>_underscores_</p>
+
+<p>`backticks`</p>
+
+<p>This is a code span with a literal backslash-backtick sequence: <code>\`</code></p>
+
+<p>This is a tag with unescaped backticks <span attr='`ticks`'>bar</span>.</p>
+
+<p>This is a tag with backslashes <span attr='\\backslashes\\'>bar</span>.</p>
diff --git a/test/tests/backslash_escapes.text b/test/tests/backslash_escapes.text
index 27014ea3..5b014cb3 100644
--- a/test/tests/backslash_escapes.text
+++ b/test/tests/backslash_escapes.text
@@ -1 +1,120 @@
-hello world \[how](are you) today
\ No newline at end of file
+These should all get escaped:
+
+Backslash: \\
+
+Backtick: \`
+
+Asterisk: \*
+
+Underscore: \_
+
+Left brace: \{
+
+Right brace: \}
+
+Left bracket: \[
+
+Right bracket: \]
+
+Left paren: \(
+
+Right paren: \)
+
+Greater-than: \>
+
+Hash: \#
+
+Period: \.
+
+Bang: \!
+
+Plus: \+
+
+Minus: \-
+
+
+
+These should not, because they occur within a code block:
+
+	Backslash: \\
+
+	Backtick: \`
+
+	Asterisk: \*
+
+	Underscore: \_
+
+	Left brace: \{
+
+	Right brace: \}
+
+	Left bracket: \[
+
+	Right bracket: \]
+
+	Left paren: \(
+
+	Right paren: \)
+
+	Greater-than: \>
+
+	Hash: \#
+
+	Period: \.
+
+	Bang: \!
+
+	Plus: \+
+
+	Minus: \-
+
+
+Nor should these, which occur in code spans:
+
+Backslash: `\\`
+
+Backtick: `` \` ``
+
+Asterisk: `\*`
+
+Underscore: `\_`
+
+Left brace: `\{`
+
+Right brace: `\}`
+
+Left bracket: `\[`
+
+Right bracket: `\]`
+
+Left paren: `\(`
+
+Right paren: `\)`
+
+Greater-than: `\>`
+
+Hash: `\#`
+
+Period: `\.`
+
+Bang: `\!`
+
+Plus: `\+`
+
+Minus: `\-`
+
+
+These should get escaped, even though they're matching pairs for
+other Markdown constructs:
+
+\*asterisks\*
+
+\_underscores\_
+
+\`backticks\`
+
+This is a code span with a literal backslash-backtick sequence: `` \` ``
+
+This is a tag with unescaped backticks <span attr='`ticks`'>bar</span>.
+
+This is a tag with backslashes <span attr='\\backslashes\\'>bar</span>.