You know how most horror franchises just throw a few jump scares at you and call it a day? The Conjuring universe is built differently. It’s all rooted in the real-life case files of Ed and Lorraine Warren, two actual paranormal investigators who spent decades walking into houses that sane people would never enter. Ten films spread across nearly 40 years of haunted history, full of possessed dolls, demon nuns, cursed farmhouses, and one married couple who somehow kept saying yes to every terrifying case that landed on their desk. Here’s where the story actually begins.
‘The Nun ‘ (2018) Set in 1952
A young novitiate nun and a troubled priest are sent by the Vatican to investigate the death of a nun at a remote monastery in Romania, because apparently the Vatican does that. What they find inside those walls is Valak, a demonic entity disguised as a nun, ancient and genuinely terrifying. This is the origin story of the scariest villain in the entire franchise, the creature that will eventually find its way into the Warrens’ lives decades later. Corin Hardy directs this film through 96 minutes of pure darkness and dread.
‘Annabelle: Creation’ (2017) Set in 1955
Twelve years after losing their young daughter in a tragic accident, a dollmaker and his wife open their home to a group of orphaned girls and a nun looking after them. What they don’t tell anyone is that they invited something else into the house too, a demon that has been waiting patiently inside a hand-crafted doll. This is where Annabelle’s story truly begins, and it is far more unsettling than anything that came after.
‘The Nun II’ (2023) Set in 1956
Four years after her first horrifying encounter in Romania, Sister Irene is back, and so is Valak. This time, the demon has followed a familiar face to a boarding school in the south of France, and a series of gruesome deaths forces Sister Irene to confront it once again. Michael Chaves directs a film that deepens the mythology of the universe considerably, including a revelation that quietly connects Sister Irene to Lorraine Warren herself.
‘Annabelle’ (2014) Set in 1967
A man buys a beautiful vintage doll for his pregnant wife, not knowing that a satanic cult attack on their home that very night ends with the doll being used in a dark ritual. After that night, nothing in their home is safe. It is the most straightforward film in the universe, no layers, just a possessed doll making two people’s lives absolutely miserable. John R. Leonetti directs a film that is more of a mood piece than a story, but an effective one all the same.
‘The Conjuring’ (2013) Set in 1971
A family moves into a secluded farmhouse in Rhode Island and almost immediately realises something is deeply wrong with the place. Ed and Lorraine Warren are called in to help, and what they find is one of the most powerful and dangerous cases of their careers. James Wan directs the film that launched this entire universe, and it remains the best one. It picked up multiple awards in the horror genre and is widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made.
‘Annabelle Comes Home’ (2019) Set in 1972
While Ed and Lorraine are away on a case, their young daughter Judy is left at home with her babysitter, right next door to the room where the Warrens keep every cursed and dangerous artefact they have ever collected, all locked up for good reason. Annabelle wakes up, the locks come open, and suddenly every single evil thing in that room is free.
‘The Curse of La Llorona’ (2019) Set in 1973
A social worker in Los Angeles becomes entangled with the legend of La Llorona, a weeping woman from Mexican folklore who drowned her own children and now spends eternity trying to take other people’s. When she starts targeting the social worker’s own kids, the only person who can help is a priest who has faced something like this before. Michael Chaves directs a film connected to the rest of the franchise through a single familiar face, Father Perez from the Annabelle films.
‘The Conjuring 2’ (2016) Set in 1977
Ed and Lorraine travel to Enfield in North London to help a single mother and her four children who are being terrorised by a violent poltergeist in their council house. It is one of the most documented paranormal cases in British history, and James Wan turns it into something spectacular. Valak makes a return that will genuinely unsettle you, and the film also briefly visits the Amityville haunting, tying the universe’s biggest cases together in one extraordinary watch.
‘The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It’ (2021) Set in 1981
This one starts with an exorcism and only gets stranger from there. A young man murders his landlord and then does something no defence attorney has ever attempted before: he claims demonic possession made him do it. Ed and Lorraine Warren must now prove the existence of evil in a court of law while also hunting down a satanic curse that is still very much active. Michael Chaves directs a film that trades the haunted house formula for something closer to a supernatural thriller, and it works surprisingly well.
‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’ (2025) Set in 1986
The final chapter. Ed and Lorraine Warren take on the Smurl haunting, a Pennsylvania family whose brand new home turns out to be anything but, in what is being called their last and most dangerous case. Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga close out nearly three decades of the franchise in a film that promises to tie everything back to where it all began. Michael Chaves directs this farewell to the universe that scared an entire generation of cinema audiences.
Where to watch
The good news is that the whole franchise is very easy to find. Most of the films, including both Conjuring films, both Nun films, the Annabelle trilogy, and La Llorona, are streaming on Amazon Prime Video. A handful of titles, including ‘The Nun’, ‘Annabelle Comes Home’, and ‘The Conjuring: Last Rites’, are also available on Jio Hotstar. So between these two platforms, the entire universe is covered, and the marathon can begin whenever you are ready.
