HeyJaredPapyrus Rampant
Story, history, and theory of story - from reading books to telling the story of history to reflecting on how story is told.
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 12
- Latest publication
- Sep 26, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 18, 2026
Latest issues
Hidden Valleys of Appalachian Folklore (opens the original)
Read excerpt
One of my favorite panels at this year’s Worldcon was one I almost didn’t go to: Appalachian folklore. It had been billed as “Horror” (which almost kept me away), but - like Appalachian folklore itself - it was a lot richer, and it made me think a lot about storytelling in general.The weird landscape there makes the Appalachians feel almost otherworldly. The beauties of the hills (I’ve been there) feel almost otherworldly. Mists can rise out of valleys suddenly, due to temperature changes and wa
Retreat and Battle in New York City (opens the original)
Read excerpt
This continues my series marking the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the American Revolution. Previously was The Battle of Long Island, on August 22, 1776. If you want to start at the beginning, the series starts with The Boston Tea Party, on December 16, 1773.Two months after the Declaration of Independence, the American and British armies were eyeing each other across the islands of what’s now New York City. After
Short Reviews for September 2026 (opens the original)
Read excerpt
<img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="438.86186540731995" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!CRQX!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F187ff88a-8532-4a90-8612-9d763e61b3
It’s Been Four Years (opens the original)
Read excerpt
It’s been four years since I started Papyrus Rampant!It’s been four good years - when I first started this blog, I certainly hoped I’d keep it up, but I didn’t anticipate how much I’d keep writing on how steady a schedule. Nor did I anticipate so much of what I’d be writing, such as the Short Reviews series, the anniversary posts about history, the reports about Worldcon and the Hugos, or the American Revolution series.Nor did I anticipate you, my 1100+ loyal subscribers, my followers who aren’t
The Tyranny of Jefferson Davis (opens the original)
Read excerpt
I’ve been reading through just about everything written by historian Mark E. Neely Jr. Ever since I first came across him, I was drawn in by his legal history about the Civil War. You’ve seen me mention a few of his titles in the Short Reviews feature, but he has a lot of other engrossing titles too. Perhaps the most interesting, though, is Southern Rights: Political Prisoners and the Myth of Confederate Constitutionalism.A few years ago, I joked that people flying the Confederate flag as a symb
Publishing over time
Last 90 days. Choose a month to open its work.
Recurring subjects
Named in the text we hold. One piece can cover several.
Audience
No verified audience measurement yet.
About this data
Counts cover the work we have indexed. Tone needs enough text and a confident classification. Excerpts and episode notes are not full articles or transcripts.
Identity or attribution wrong? Suggest a correction.