In 1988 the band Sepolcrum was founded. They changed name after the third demo to VII Arcano. After Gather My Blood Forever was released in 1994, the band split, with Alexander Nunziati and Robert Cufaro forming Theatres des Vampires, and the rest of the band remaining VII Arcano, but changing their style to thrash metal.[citation needed]

The band's members expressed a fascination with vampires and anything connected to them, earning themselves and their music the title "vampiric metal" from their contemporaries. The band created a coherent image of vampirism in their stage performance and within the lyrical themes and atmospheres of their music, which contributed heavily to the gaining of their fanbase.

During their career, the band was first primarily influenced by symphonic black metal, but later tended to include differing influences, including: classical music, opera, darkwave, deathrock, gothic rock and several industrial subgenres.

Throughout this stylistic deviation, a few characteristics of the band's music have remained consistent; melancholic atmospheres and lyrics, vocal stylings akin to gothic metal, and their vampiric image.

The band has produced ten albums in ten years with the English label Plastic Head, and has gained more recognition within the metal scene in Europe, South America and Russia, partially due to the band's participation in various festivals around the world. These include Vampyria III in London in 1999, Gods of Metal in Italy in 2000, Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leipzig in 2003 and in 2006, Gotham in London in 2004, and Female Voices Festival in Wieze, Belgium in 2006.

In 2003 the band toured with Christian Death throughout Europe, and recorded an album with Valor of Christian Death and Gian Pyres of Cradle of Filth as special guests.

The band's shows have always seen a reasonable level of attendance, and have become more dramatic over the band's career, incorporating fireworks and "out of line" appearances by Scarlet.

Since 2004 Sonya Scarlet has remained the solo vocalist and front of the band, replacing her previous role as backing vocals.

Scarlet sometimes cuts herself with razors at performances, freely letting fans drink her blood, promising them the gift of immortality. In 2005 several English clubs forbade her performing the display of bloodletting, because it violates English laws against the incitement to commit suicide.[5]

On 28 November 2005 Aural Music released the album Pleasure and Pain. Distributors throughout Europe bought the album and it was published with permission in Europe, South America, the USA, Russia, and Japan.

On 19 March 2007 they released Desire of Damnation. It is a double CD, with live songs from The Addiction Tour 2006 and some new studio songs and remixes.

Guitarist Robert Cufaro "Morgoth" left the band in 2006 and was replaced by Stephan Benfante.

The name "Theatres des Vampires" was inspired by a fictional location created by Gothic fantasy writer Anne Rice of the same name. Rice's Theatres des Vampires is a Parisian theatre in which vampires pretend to be mortal actors, their performances consisting of the feeding on mortals disguised as part of a play and staged in front of human audiences. The location is mentioned in several of Rice's books, including Interview With the Vampire and The Vampire Lestat.