Quis, how do you go about determining the vampire’s ethnicity? You are aware of Cecil’s discussion on this matter, are you not? If not see
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a1_039.html
Dan Tilque
Or, for that matter. someone saying “I was talking to Bob when suddenly he spontaneously combusted.” Yeah, I can see how if some has passed out because of alcohol, they might not wake up even if they caught on fire. I didn’t read Cecil’s column until after i posted; if I had, I would have seen that part of the explanation.
!!!dtilque!!!
I guess I can sorta see your point on that but as he pointed out in the ethnicities a stake throught the heart is pretty common. It is the one sure way of killing almost any vampire. Now what he didn’t describe is what happens AFTER you stake them through the heart. Sadly to say the bodies don’t just sit there for everyone to see. The burst into flames very shortly and go to dust rather quickly or some pretty yucky remains at the least.
Hope this clears things up 
Yes, everything except why a duck.
Quisling,
SHC can be better explained, not by the staking of a vampire, but by the results of a Flamestrike spell that a 7th Level Cleric (or 5th Level Druid) can cast. It does 5d12 hit dice damage – more than enough to disintegrate a 0 level NPC. By casting a Detect Magic and Detect Evil spell on the remains, you can deduce the alignment of the caster and thus know whether the fiery execution was criminal or just in nature. If criminal, you can be sure it was someone from the Band of the Black Eye hiding out on Al Amarja who cast the spell.
Peace.
Why a no chicken? 
SHC is also a convenient plot device for getting rid of the bad guy, as Unca Cecil pointed out in his column (the character in Bleak House who spontaneously combusted). Dickens didn’t mention whether or not he was a vampire, but given that the book was (IIRC) about 1000 pages long, he certainly had ample opportunity to do so.
I don’t think I could agree with a hypothesis of a high level fireball. Most destroyed corpses with the mortal wound being inflicted by a fireball tend to be flung back at least 15-20 feet before being charred with a high impact, unless they hit a wall first. Even a Fire Wall or column would allow the victim to run around a bit before burning to death. I will have to stick with the Vampire cause.
its a conspiracy!!!
Well i would just liek to say…wait…whats that …no…NO…NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
poof
Those Hungarians don’t take any chances, do they?
Plank--------
The whole deal with the ethnicity of the vampire is simply a case of distorted lies and truths there is of course only a handful of ways to kill a vampire for sure! Decapitation, Sunlight, and Burning. And a stake through the heart is a safe beat most of the time Although I would still decapitate the creature afterwards and if he didn’t burst into flames well…
“light it up!”
Quisling