Research Data Services
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Data Horror Story Contest

A gray laptop on a black background with red dots. Hands reach out of the laptop screen in a spooky way.

It’s time for the UW-Madison Libraries annual Data Horror Story Contest! Do you have stories of devastating data loss, failed saves, daring rescues, or disturbed vibe coding?

Did saving to the cloud end up raining on your parade? Did cleaning up some code break a team project? Did a typo send your work to the spirit realm?

Horror stories aren’t limited to the page and screen! They can happen in your lab notebooks, in your coding sessions, in your spreadsheets, and in the eleventh hour of project progress. What’s your data horror story? Share it with us at Research Data Services (RDS) and UW Madison Libraries via this form by October 20, 2026 for a chance to have your story published (credited or anonymously!) in a limited run zine!

The Rules

  1. The story must be true
  2. The story must not contain sensitive or restricted data
  3. Tell the story in 500 words or less

If you need some inspiration, check out last year’s winning entries. 

By submitting to the Data Horror Story Contest, you are agreeing to have your story, if selected, published in a zine, on the  Research Data Services blog, and possibly on the Libraries social media accounts.
Have questions? Reach out to Jennifer Patiño at jennifer.patino@wisc.edu or Lisa Play at lisa.play@wisc.edu.