 Other methods commonly practised in Europe included severing the tendons at the knees or placing poppy seeds , millet , or sand on the ground at the grave site of a presumed vampire ; this was intended to keep the vampire occupied all night by counting the fallen grains , indicating an association of vampires with arithmomania . Similar Chinese narratives state that if a vampire @-@ like being came across a sack of rice , it would have to count every grain ; this is a theme encountered in myths from the Indian subcontinent , as well as in South American tales of witches and other sorts of evil or mischievous spirits or beings . 
