The first method is to bury the body face down. This either confuses a rising vampire as to which direction is up, or makes it impossible to get out of the coffin. According to Barber, a corpse buried face down can not become a vampire because it will not be able to perform the destructive task of chewing its burial shroud or limbs while in the grave. It the corpse could do so, it would spread death (in the form of disease) to the living. Even if such a corpse did become a vampire, burying it face down will prevent the vampire from ever finding the surface and escaping its grave

The second method is to bury the body at a crossroads. The suicide, totally frustrated and unhallowed in death, had the reputation of being a wanderer abroad, so it was considered essential that he should be buried at the crossroads. He would then have some difficulty in deciding which path to choose and his activities would be considerably delayed.

Suicides and strangers were not allowed burial in a consecrated cemetery. There was a simple logic in removing the unwanted, potentially dangerous dead out of the village and away from where others lived. It also had health benefits as well– something the Romans were aware of when they passed a law that all cemeteries must be outside the city walls to prevent contamination and disease.

According to some beliefs, in order to prevent a vampire from chewing its way out of the grave, people would stuff the mouth with certain coins or dirt, or prop the mouth shut. (Barber, 1988, 47) In Romania, people buried a  candle, a coin, and a towel in  with the corpse to prevent vampirism. (Perkowski, 1982, 313)

In Bulgaria, the nostrils, eyes, and ears of a corpse are stuffed with millet to prevent vampirism. (Barber, 1988, 48). In other traditions, the corpse's mouth or coffin are filled with garlic. Other apotropaic objects like a crucifix or an Eucharistic wafer were sometimes placed along the corpse.

Food is another object used to prevent vampirism.  The practice of burying the corpse with food eliminates a possible need for the corpse to leave the grave and feed on humans.  A Romanian tradition was to carry bread and wine to the grave site within a few days of burial.  The concept of providing food for the dead is a worldwide concept.  (Barber, 1988, 47)

Many substances can be strewn along a vampire's grave and the path to the graveyard to prevent it from rising; these substances include millet, sea sand, mustard seeds, oats, linen seeds, carrot seeds, and poppy seeds. (Barber, 1988, 49). A vampire would have either to eat or count every seed before attempting to escape the grave.

It was also advisable to tie the corpse with hundreds of tiny knots. Similar to the seeds, vampires are obsessed with tying knots, and can become so engaged in the task that they neglect to rise from their graves and kill. In Northern Germany, nets are buried with corpses, so they can not leave their graves until they have untied all the knots. Since a vampire can only untie about one knot per year, this method seems quite effective. (Barber, 1988, 49)  Greeks will cast fishing nets over their doorways to keep vampires out; this same obsession will force the vampire to count every knot before he can enter. (Barber, 1988, 55)

Another practical solution to walking corpses was to keep them from walking simply by tying their feet and legs together with a strong rope.

Binding the corpse's hands and feet prevents the vampire from escaping the grave. Severing the tendons at the knees was believed to have the same effect of keeping the vampire in the grave. Following the same idea, headstones were originally used not as a remembrance, but as a weight to prevent a vampire from escaping the grave.

Sickles have a very simple and effective use in stopping vampires. Bury the corpse with the sickle over its neck. Should the corpse become a vampire and try to rise from its grave, it will cut its own head off. (Barber, 1988, 50)  Another way of using the sickle involved piercing the corpse’s heart with it, which no doubt derives its power from ritually pinning the vampire to the earth as a stake through the heart does.

Stakes are used in many ways to prevent and imprison vampires. In Eastern Serbia, small pegs made out of hawthorn wood are driven into the grave next to the cross, preventing the corpse from becoming a vampire. (Barber, 1988, 48) Stakes and other sharpened objects are also driven into the body. The wounds preventing vampirism by making it impossible for the Devil to 'inflate' the body so it can rise. (Barber, 1988, 53)  Stakes can be simply driven over a corpse's grave, so if it becomes a vampire and tries to rise, it will impale itself. (Barber, 1988, 53)

Last but not least, the decapitation and the removal of the heart are the most effective way to destroy the would-be vampire. By burying the head in a separate grave, the vampire would be forced to find its head before going to feed.