My grandmother told me a story about bedbugs once, which I remember to this day. It happened when they were fleeing the Russian army's imminent march into Berlin. They set off on their bicycles with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, some blankets and a bag of sugar to sustain them.
After having roughed it out in the open for several days , they found shelter at a farm house where they were given a room to sleep in. The room looked fine, it wasn't filthy, but my grandmother remembered that it had a slightly unpleasant sweet smell to it. Not thinking that anything was wrong they went to bed. No sooner had they turned off the lights, both of them started to get itchy. At first it was just a little here and there, but soon it went from mildly annoying to unbearable. They jumped out of bed, turned on the lights, only to find it teaming with bedbugs. So, on they went to do what was necessary to get rid of the bugs, including placing the legs of the bed into four petrol-filled tins. So, to bed they went once more and turned out the lights hoping to get some well-earned sleep.
After a while the itching started again. At first it was just a little, but soon it became as bad as before. So, on came the light again and, that time, they observed the bugs crawling along the ceiling and launching themselves off the lamp that was hanging over the bed, like a bunch of crazed kamakzies. They ended up moving the bed to another part of the room, where they ended up itching and scratching for the rest of the night.
The End
I hope you enjoyed that, I don't think they did.
Cheers
rapunzel