Those of you who read Blazing Minds regularly will have seen the reviews of the movies in The Conjuring Universe. I briefly went through the timeline of the movies, but how do all the Conjuring Universe movies slot into the terrifying timeline? This timeline has now been updated with the latest release in the Conjuring Universe movie, Last Rites
Beginning with The Conjuring in 2013 by director James Wan, The Conjuring Universe kicks off by exploring the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a real-life couple from Monroe, Connecticut, who dedicated their adult lives to investigating supernatural events. Their investigations in The Conjuring introduced a plethora of demonic characters, ultimately opening the door to an expanded cinematic universe and resulting in one of the most successful horror movie franchises of all time.
The Conjuring Universe Timeline in Chronological Order
The Nun – 1952
The Nun takes place in Romania in 1952 and, at this point, is the earliest chapter in The Conjuring Universe. Wan and the film’s director, Corin Hardy, designed the film to be an origin story that explores The Conjuring’s ultimate evil, Valak. When a nun commits suicide at the Abbey of St. Carta, people begin to suspect that the dark powers of Valak are involved. The film even opens on a sizzle reel of Valak’s damage, complete with Lorraine Warren’s foreboding voiceover, taken from The Conjuring 2.
The Nun digs into the story of the individual responsible for summoning not only Valak into the world, but demons in general. There’s a flashback that goes all the way back to the Dark Ages as the Duke of St. Carta’s ritual to summon Valak gets shown in detail. The Nun also briefly jumps back in time to 1945 to show Father Burke’s first experience with demonic possession. Whether the force that takes control of Daniel is Valak or some other evil, Valak still uses Daniel’s spirit as a means to torture Burke throughout the film (and really plays into the “Marquis of Snakes” namesake).
After it looks like Sister Irene and company have defeated Valak, The Nun shows that they were unsuccessful, jumping forward to 1977 during the Warrens’ “three stages of possession” lecture from The Conjuring 2. The couple’s possession footage gets framed in a new light as the twisted fate of The Nun’s Maurice (“Frenchie”) is revealed. It also shows that the Warrens initially encounter Valak much earlier than they realise.
Annabelle: Creation – 1955
Even though Annabelle: Creation came out after both Annabelle and The Conjuring, it’s a prequel to both. Set in 1955, the film follows Samuel and Esther Mullins as they open their home up to Sister Charlotte and six orphan girls, but the film begins with a brief detour in 1943 when the Mullins lose their daughter, Annabelle, in a car accident.
The goal of Annabelle: Creation is to explain how the possessed doll from The Conjuring came into existence. Samuel Mullins is a doll-maker, and after the death of his daughter, the Mullins are so desperate to see their child again that they form a pact with a demon (that they believe is their daughter’s spirit) and allow it to possess a doll as a host. Janice, one of the orphans, forms an unusual friendship with the possessed doll, and the awakened evil spirit is now hungry for a human conduit.
Additionally, at one point Sister Charlotte shows off a photo of herself and three other nuns from back when she was in Romania. The important thing about this is that an unnamed Valak is also present in the background of the photo as a fellow nun. While these nuns aren’t named, the photo originally appears on the wall of the convent within the Abbey of St. Carta in The Nun, placing Sister Charlotte’s photo in the year 1952.
The Nun 2 (1956) Set for release on September 8th 2023
1956 – France. A priest is murdered. Evil is spreading. The sequel to the worldwide smash hit follows Sister Irene as she once again comes face-to-face with Valak, the demon nun.
Taissa Farmiga (“The Nun,” “The Gilded Age”) returns as Sister Irene, joined by Jonas Bloquet (“Tirailleurs,” “The Nun”), Storm Reid (“The Last of Us,” “The Suicide Squad”), Anna Popplewell (“Fairytale,” “The Chronicles of Narnia” trilogy) and Bonnie Aarons (reprising her role from “The Nun”), surrounded by an ensemble cast of international talent.
Michael Chaves (“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It”) directs, from a screenplay by Ian Goldberg & Richard Naing (“Eli,” “The Autopsy of Jane Doe”) and Akela Cooper (“M3GAN,” “Malignant”), with a story by Cooper, based on characters created by James Wan & Gary Dauberman.
James Wan also announced on his Instagram news of The Conjuring 4, saying, “Here you go. We’ve been slowly and carefully crafting away on this. We didn’t want to rush this until we’ve got something that is worthwhile. And I’m really excited and encouraged by the direction David is working on. Even more excited to have @verafarmiga and @thereelpatrickwilson back!“
Annabelle – 1967
The Conjuring essentially contains a stand-alone Annabelle short film, so it’s no surprise that the evil little doll quickly became a fan favourite. The Conjuring explains how the Warrens came into possession of the Annabelle doll, but Annabelle sets out to show some of the doll’s carnage before she gets locked up.
Annabelle is set a mere four years before The Conjuring, and it follows Mia and John Form, two fresh parents who unfortunately come in contact with the doll when she’s eager for a human host. It’s worth pointing out that Annabelle begins with the death of Annabelle Higgins, AKA Janice from Annabelle: Creation. It’s her death in the proximity of the doll that sets in motion the disturbing series of events.
The desperate Forms turn to the church as a last resort. This is ultimately what gets Annabelle in the orbit of the Warrens. Father Perez even makes a sly reference to the Warrens (albeit not by name) as one of his solutions to the Annabelle problem, although he can’t reach them in time.
Annabelle concludes with a tag that’s set six months after the events of the film and
Annabelle Comes Home – 1967/8
The films over the years have followed a varied timeline in the Conjuring Universe and Annabelle has featured in two movies, the first set in 1967 and Annabelle: Creation set in 1955, in Annabelle Comes Home we are taken to 1967 shortly after the Warren’s obtained the Annabelle doll, when a teenager and her friend unknowingly awaken an evil spirit trapped in a doll while they babysit Ed (Patrick Wilson) and Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) Warren’s daughter, Judy (Mckenna Grace), all hell breaks loose!
The Conjuring – 1971
The whole series excels at scares, but what makes the main Conjuring films such a success is that Ed and Lorraine Warren are such a nice, loving couple. While the Warrens are alluded to in Annabelle and appear in The Nun through recycled footage, The Conjuring marks their first appearance as they try to help the Perron family with their supposedly haunted home
The Curse of La Llorona (1973)
The Weeping Woman. A horrifying apparition, caught between Heaven and Hell, trapped in a terrible fate sealed by her own hand. The mere mention of her name has struck terror around the world for generations. In life, she drowned her children in a jealous rage, throwing herself in the churning river after them as she wept in pain.
The connection to the Conjuring Universe may not be obvious at first when the movie starts in the 17th century as we are given a quick look at the start of the La Llorona legend and the curse, jumping forward to 1973 a couple of years after the first Conjuring movie was set, we get to meet Anna (Linda Cardellini) a widow looking after her two children after her police officer husband was killed, life is a little hectic and her job doesn’t help.
The Conjuring 2 – 1976-1977
The Conjuring 2 begins with a brief introduction that’s set in 1976 while the Warrens attempt to investigate the infamous Amityville murders. The Amityville case isn’t the film’s focus, but it’s during a séance there that Lorraine Warren first experiences Valak. After this warning, the film jumps forward to 1977 when the Hodgson family from Enfield, London, requests the Warrens’ expertise.
The Hodgson family find themselves under attack by the ghost of Bill Wilkins, the residence’s former tenant. However, it’s eventually revealed that Valak is actually the real threat here, and he’s manipulated Bill Wilkins’ ghost to do his bidding (not unlike what Valak does to young Daniel’s ghost in The Nun). A lot of The Conjuring 2 pits Lorraine against Valak as her biggest challenge yet. The demon can even block Lorraine’s psychic powers, which is significant.
Lorraine tries to keep Janet Hodgson safe from Valak’s clutches, but the demon also chooses to manifest through the youngest Hodgson kid’s zoetrope toy. Ed helps protect Billy from the Crooked Man, and the film ends with the zoetrope being added to the Warrens’ haunted antique collection, right next to the Annabelle doll and April’s music box from the first Conjuring.
The Conjuring 2 sees Lorraine effectively send Valak back to Hell and ends the threat that started in the Abbey of St. Carta all the way back in The Nun.
The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It – 1981
“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” reveals a chilling story of terror, murder and unknown evil that shocked even experienced real-life paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. One of the most sensational cases from their files, it starts with a fight for the soul of a young boy, then takes them beyond anything they’d ever seen before, marking the first time in U.S. history that a murder suspect would claim demonic possession as a defence.
Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson return to star as Lorraine and Ed Warren, under the direction of Michael Chaves (“The Curse of La Llorona”). The film also stars Ruairi O’Connor (Starz’ “The Spanish Princess”), Sarah Catherine Hook (Hulu’s “Monsterland”) and Julian Hilliard (the series “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” and “The Haunting of Hill House”).
“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” is the seventh film in the “Conjuring” Universe, the largest horror franchise in history, which has grossed more than $1.8 billion worldwide. It includes the first two “Conjuring” films, as well as “Annabelle” and “Annabelle: Creation,” “The Nun,” and “Annabelle Comes Home.”
The Conjuring: Last Rites (1986)
This new movie takes us back to 1961 with a young Ed and Lorraine as they go on their first case, but it’s cut short after Lorraine goes into labour with her baby. We are then given a nicely done montage of Judy growing up over the years, before heading to 1986 and an introduction to the Smurl family, who are being haunted by something that is pure evil.
The Conjuring: Last Rites has a very familiar feel to it, and it does feel more like the first film from 2013 as it keeps to the formula that has worked over the three Conjuring films.
What’s next in The Conjuring Universe?
Although Last Rites was said to be the last in the series for the Ed and Lorraine Warren, a Conjuring TV show is on the way, and it’s also being announced that a prequel to the Conjuring movies is also in the works.
What Happened to The Crooked Man Movie?
Now this was a movie that I was looking forward to, but sadly, the spin-off of the character from the music box in The Conjuring 2 was cancelled, and unless the studio decides to bring the project back from the dead, we won’t get the movie. But who knows, maybe the creepy character may make a return in the Conjuring TV series.
Originally posted September 2023, updated September 2025.
Karen Woodham is the founder and owner of the Blazing Minds. She is also a Cinema reviewer and works with RealD 3D reviewing the latest 3D releases and IMAX, she has also had several articles published in various publications including the first edition of SFW Magazine. In 2015 she became an Award Winning Blogger and also has her website listed as one of the UK’s Top 10 Film Blogs.
