I owe you fair warning: this story might give you the willies. It’s a firsthand account from my renter days that I’m sharing in hopes it helps anyone facing something similar.
After graduating, I moved to New York City in June 2004 and rented a two-bedroom apartment in Astoria, Queens with a college roommate. The place wasn’t great, but the bedrooms were large and the rent was cheap. It felt like a reasonable start to adult life—assemble the seen-better-days IKEA, hang cheap posters, and make do. I had no idea we’d end up living through a full-blown infestation.
One August night I woke up and went to the kitchen for water. I turned on the light and felt a small brown bug on my shoulder. As I tried to flick it away, I saw more crawling down my back. I ripped my shirt off so fast you’d think it was on fire.
I ran back to my room thinking I’d left a window cracked and let gnats in. When I switched on the light I saw two things: (1) the windows were closed and (2) dozens of bugs were swarming my bed and the walls. Gross.
I started swatting the ones I could catch, but they were appearing faster than I could kill them. I turned to the internet and quickly learned we had a bed bug infestation.
Bed bugs are real and unsettling. They’re small—about the size of a pencil eraser—flat, nocturnal insects that feed on warm-blooded animals, which explains their affinity for sleeping humans. Most people detect them by their bites rather than seeing the bugs themselves. Both my roommate and I had many bite marks (she even had one on her eyelid), but we assumed they were mosquito bites at first. Other signs include tiny black droppings along mattress edges and blood stains from crushed bugs after someone rolls over.
How did we get them? Bed bugs have resurged in the US, especially in large, transient cities like New York. Infestations aren’t a sign of filth; they’re linked to increased travel—bugs hitch rides in luggage and clothing—and to reduced use of powerful pesticides in recent decades. We never learned exactly how they arrived, though our wall-to-wall carpet probably didn’t help.
Getting rid of bed bugs is notoriously difficult. We were told multiple pesticide treatments are often necessary. Our landlord, who was unwilling to hire a reputable exterminator, had a friend spray a mystery chemical into cracks and crevices and even dismantled our IKEA furniture—bed bugs hide in dowel holes and other small spaces.
Besides the chemical treatment, my roommate and I took several quarantine steps to catch any survivors. We washed all fabrics in hot water, which meant lugging every piece of clothing, sheets, and towels to a laundromat two blocks away. After washing, we sealed everything in plastic for two months—bed bugs struggle to walk on slick surfaces like plastic and metal, so trash bags helped keep them from stowing away. For weeks our closet looked like a storage room full of sealed bags.
Because bugs can live deep inside mattresses, we bought plastic mattress encasements with zippers and kept them on until we could afford new beds. Each morning we checked for fresh bite marks to determine whether the treatment had worked. That meant some nights we essentially sacrificed our comfort to confirm whether the bugs were gone. I’d sleep on a sheetless, plastic-covered mattress wearing as many clothes as possible to reduce bites. The annoyed expression in the photo was absolutely intentional.
After a couple of weeks without new bites, we declared the infestation over. In total it lasted about 12 weeks. The experience caused a lot of stress—from arguing with the landlord about responsibility for treatment to eventually replacing my furniture (which I didn’t do until I moved out). I wouldn’t wish bed bugs on anyone.
That said, bed bugs aren’t the end of the world. If you discover an infestation, do your research, work with professionals when possible, and prepare for several uncomfortable weeks. Treatment methods may have improved since my ordeal, but prevention is still the best defense. When traveling, inspect hotel mattresses for stains and keep luggage off the floor. At home, vacuum regularly and consider measures that prevent bugs from reaching your mattress—placing bed legs in cans or applying a slippery barrier can help, because bed bugs can’t fly and have difficulty crossing slick surfaces.
Hopefully this long post didn’t put you to sleep. If it did, I’ll hope you slept tight and didn’t let the—well, you know the rest.