Ed and Lorraine Warren spent decades investigating paranormal activity across the world. Their cases didn’t end up inspiring the Paranormal Activity film franchise, though, instead serving as the basis for the smash-hit Conjuring films.
The Conjuring series has been going strong for 13 years now, starting in 2013 and going all the way through 2025’s The Conjuring: Last Rites. Including the various spinoffs and prequels, there are now nine films in the franchise. That doesn’t account for 2016’s Wolves at the Door or 2019’s The Curse of La Llorona, which both feature a crossover character and actor from Annabelle but are not considered to be official chapters in the Conjuring universe.
The official tagline for The Conjuring: Last Rites is “The case that ended it all,” so now feels like a good time to take a look back at the complete timeline of the series. Any small detail could come back to play into the implied finale, after all. And with most of the films adapting real-world cases, there is a pretty concrete timeline for the nine films and how they fit together.
(Warning: Spoilers for the Conjuring, Annabelle and Nun films.)
The Nun – 1952
While The Nun was the fifth Conjuring film to be released in the real world, coming out in 2018, it takes place before any of the others.
Valak, known as the Demon Nun, first appeared on the big screen in The Conjuring 2, which takes place in 1977. The prequel rewinds 25 years, focusing on a young nun named Sister Irene as she and Father Burke investigate an evil force at a monastery in Romania. Taissa Farmiga — the younger sister of Vera Farmiga — portrays Sister Irene, who is revealed to be from the same bloodline as Lorraine Warren.
Short story short, ancient knights sealed Valak in the catacombs of the monastery using a vial of Jesus’ blood. Bombing during World War II created a rift that allowed Valak to escape, though, ultimately killing every nun who lived there. Sister Irene seemingly banishes Valak back through the rift, but the spirit possesses a man named Maurice instead. A flash-forward shows Ed and Lorraine Warren presenting footage of their exorcism of Maurice in the 1970s, which marks the first time Lorraine had a vision of Ed’s death.
The Nun II – 1956
Four years after her run-in with Valak in Romania, Sister Irene is living at a convent in Italy. She is then called to investigate deaths across Europe that have been attributed to Valak, eventually reuniting her with Maurice in France.
Irene discovers she is a descendant of St. Lucy, which proves critical when Valak appears and sets her on fire. Irene doesn’t burn, so she is able to turn wine into the blood of Christ through prayer and defeat Valak once again. But since the Warrens are the ones who ultimately exorcise Maurice, he is still possessed at the end of the movie.
A post-credit scene also jumps ahead to the Warrens getting a phone call from Father Gordon, seemingly setting up The Conjuring: Last Rites.
Annabelle: Creation – 1958
As a prequel to a prequel, it may be tough to remember where and when the second Annabelle movie takes place.
Annabelle: Creation tells the story of a dollmaker and his wife losing their daughter to a fatal car crash in 1946, then accidentally conjuring a demon when they wish to see their daughter again. The evil spirit possesses a doll and attacks Esther Mullins. Samuel and Esther eventually open their house as an orphanage to repent, but all they did was give the evil spirit a chance to hop over to a living host.
The demon possesses a girl named Esther, who escapes at the end of the movie. She runs away to Santa Monica, where she is adopted and starts going by Annabelle.
Annabelle – 1970
Annabelle Higgins, now in a demon-worshipping cult, returns home to her adoptive parents and kills them. She then attacks their neighbors, John and Mia Form, then takes her own life when the police arrive. Annabelle’s blood drops into the eye of a new doll, which gets possessed by the demon and starts tormenting the Form family even after they moved to Pasadena.
The demon is trying to claim a soul throughout the film, so the Form’s new neighbor, Evelyn, winds up sacrificing herself to save the day. The demon disappears and leaves the Forms alone from then on out, but a woman finds the doll and buys her as a gift for her daughter Debbie.
The Conjuring – 1971
Before the main story even gets underway, the Warrens take the Annabelle doll off Debbie’s hands and bring it home to their artifacts room.
The Warrens then conduct an investigation in Rhode Island, where a family is being haunted in their new home. As it turns out, a witch named Bathsheba Sherman sacrificed her own baby to the devil and took her own life herself at the house in 1863, all while cursing anyone who takes her land. Bathsheba attacks the Warrens’ daughter and possesses the mother of the family to kill her daughters, too. Ed conducts an exorcism before anyone dies, banishing Bathsheba to hell.
Annabelle Comes Home – 1972
When Ed and Lorraine leave town for an investigation, they hire Mary Ellen to babysit their daughter, Judy. Mary Ellen’s friend, Daniela, comes over and accidentally releases Annabelle from her case in the artifacts room. Annabelle then sets other spirits and haunted objects free into the house.
Judy, Mary Ellen, Daniela and Mary Ellen’s crush, Bob, put the doll back in the case and put a stop to all the supernatural chaos. Pretty small, simple story for this one.
The Conjuring 2 – 1977
During the Warren’s investigation of the famed Amityville murders, Lorraine gets a vision of Valak and Ed’s death.
A year later, Ed and Lorraine head to Enfield to investigate a young girl who is seemingly possessed by a former homeowner after playing with a ouija board. (Don’t worry, the two Ouija movies are not connected to The Conjuring and therefore not part of your homework for any of these films.) The Warrens leave England once video surveillance suggests that the Hodgson family is lying about the haunting for attention, only to return once they realize the homeowner’s spirit was being used as a pawn by Valak.
The Warrens save the Hodgsons, banish Valak to hell and add another collectable to their artifacts room. This was only the third Conjuring Universe movie released, but if you’re watching them in chronological order, this ending should be pretty familiar to you by now.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – 1981
The Warrens and Father Gordon perform an exorcism of an 8-year-old girl, during which Ed suffers a heart attack. That allowed the demon to possess the girl’s older sister’s boyfriend, Arne Johnson, who proceeds to murder his landlord. Johnson sites demonic possession while in court, which in the real world marked the first time in American history a murder trial has gone with that defense.
Further investigation shows that someone placed a witch’s totem in the house where the exorcism took place. More totems pop up in Massachusetts and in the Warrens’ own home, thanks to an occultist who is trying to get Arne and the Warrens to kill themselves and each other. The occultist, who is revealed to be the secret daughter of a former priest who studied the cult from Annabelle, tries to curse the Warrens before Ed destroys her altar. The demon then kills the occultist, while Ed takes the cup from the altar and brings it back to — you guessed it — the artifacts room.
Even though the judge said proving Arne’s “the devil made me do it” defense wasn’t feasible, he ultimately only spent five years in prison.
The Conjuring: Last Rites – 1986
We’ll have to wait and see what happens in The Conjuring: Last Rites, as well as what past events will lead directly into the apparent final chapter of the Warren phase of the Conjuring Universe. What we do know is that it is based off of the real-life investigation into the Smurl family, who claimed a demon haunted their home between 1974 and 1989.
The first eight Conjuring, Annabelle and Nun films are available to stream on HBO Max, while The Conjuring: Last Rites comes out in theaters on Thursday, September 4.
