Imagine lying down on a bed — whether it’s in a hotel room where you didn’t check underneath the sheets or safe at home where there couldn’t possibly be a threat — only to discover a tiny brown bug scattering its spoor across the sheets. You panic and take a closer look, praying that your worst fear hasn’t come true. After thirty second of googling and photo matching you find that the critter staking its claim on your mattress is in fact a bed bug. Just one is enough to send anyone into a panic, on the verge of torching their bed and selling their house. This viral TikTok multiplies that disgusting fear by thousands.
Savanna posted a video of a mattress set that seemed ready for use until a closer look showed thousands of bugs crawling all around its surface. Imagine the worst infestation possible and multiply it by a hundred. Some clusters of critters were so big that they moved in a black blob across the surface of the bed. Bystanders, understandably, shrieked with disbelief and whipped out their cameras.
Commenters shared the utter disgust of the video and most agreed that not only the mattress, but the whole house belonged to the bugs now. Others recommended putting the whole thing up in flames just to guarantee that they would never be touched by a bed bug again. Someone even pointed out that all of the people in the video probably brought bed hugs home with them too, since they love to cling to any form of fabric that they can.
According to Sage Pest Control, bed bugs makes their way into a household from increased international travel, vintage furniture, or simply their evolutionary ability to resist big sprays and pesticides. Once the creatures invade your home it’s almost impossible to get ride of them without the help of a professional. They like to attach themselves to skin, hair, clothes, and even animal fur, meaning that once they appear they can end up traveling with you wherever you go. Healthline recommends containing a bed bug infestation by taking a vacuum over anywhere that they could be hiding and getting rid of any books, clothes, or containers in and around the bed where bed bugs could be hiding. Bed bugs can be killed with extreme heat or chemical treatments registered by the EPA.
Now that your skin is appropriately crawling, maybe take a second look around your bed or hotel room, just to make sure you haven’t made any new creepy-crawly friends that may be a little too hard to shake.