It's official - THIS is the grossest video ever to be posted on You Tube

[LynneSin]

[NYC_SKP]

1. Ewww.

Uploaded on Jan 31, 2009

SEE HUNDREDS OF BED BUGS FEED ON RESEARCHER LOU SORKIN'S ARM.

In a scene straight out of Bill Schutt's fact-filled best seller, Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures, bed bug expert Lou Sorkin shows off his research colony of before letting hundreds of tiny vampires bite his arm and drink his blood (this the only way he can feed them... really). Note: The paperback version of Dark Banquet contains a wealth of information on bed bugs and their current resurgence (as well as tons of other gross stuff - some of it quite funny). It is now available in paperback (Three Rivers Press) for around $8 (or less) at places like Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, and indiebound.org.


"Dark Banquet" (Harmony Books) received dozens of great reviews and was chosen as one of the "Best Books of the Year" by Amazon.com and Library Journal. Fans include world famous scientist E.O. WIlson, Jack Hannah, and Alice Cooper (who read excerpts on his radio show). Besides bed bugs, Dark Banquet features chapters on vampire bats, leeches, ticks, mites, and even the vampire catfish (candiru), a creature infamous for swimming up the human urethra.

You can learn more about bed bugs, nature's blood-feeders, and Dark Banquet, by checking out my website www.darkbanquet.com.

Dark Banquet is available wherever books are sold.

PS. When my son and I edited & posted this video 3 years ago we never thought it would get 2 million hits (it runs too long & needs more basic info) but it did get viewers thinking about bed bugs (and hopefully my book). I've also enjoyed many of the Viewer Comments, though it now seems like 8 out of 10 have nothing to do w/ the topic. Because of this, I've closing down the Comments Section. Those viewers with bed bug-related questions can get my email address from my website darkbanquet.com.

Thanks and sleep tight (etc).
Bill

[In_The_Wind]

2. Yuck!

[Marie Marie]

3. Ugh! I swear I try my best not to let small fears stop me from

living my life - BUT, these tiny critters have me terrified of staying in any hotels or motels.

When the stories first began about their re-emergence, I found 1 at the very first place we stayed. And we did a thorough room and bed check before we brought any of our luggage into the room. We tore that bed apart and saw no evidence of them. It was the next morning that I found one crawling on the bed. We were outta there so fast!

It's not just the thought of them crawling and chewing on me while I sleep (bad enough), but the fear of bringing home some little hitchhikers and the expense of getting rid of them. They are just vile!

[Bombero1956]

4. the first thing we do when we stay at a hotel is check the mattresses

I pull the covers down at the head board and using a small flashlight run along the mattress seam, hold it open to look with your flashlight. You may see live bedbugs hiding there, skins or excrement. Another thing I do is check TripAdvisor.com for reviews by prior guests.

[Marie Marie]

5. We did that - I'm telling you, we ripped that bed apart

and checked every seam and corner. We lifted the mattress and checked underneath. They say you should pull off the headboard and check behind that which we did. I don't think the room was totally infested but it only takes a few to follow you home. What really pissed me off is, after we told the front desk and left, they shortly thereafter put someone else in that room.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

6. Entomology is a lousy profession ...

... (joke).

But, a good entomologist shouldn't have to feed bedbugs with his own blood. That's what graduate assistants are for.

[panader0]

7. I had a job a few years ago installing new furniture in a USN barracks in San Diego.

First we had to remove all of the old furniture. Mattresses first. After we carried all of them out, the duty officer arrived and told us
not to handle the matts because there was a bedbug infestation. I was freaked. I figured we were all exposed and would take the critters back to the motel, and maybe even home. Luckily, none of us got the bugs. The Navt shut down our job for two days to fumigate.

[baldguy]

8. Nope. No thank you.