The Conjuring Universe Timeline Explained: Every Movie in Chronological Order and How They Connect

The Conjuring Universe has grown far beyond the original 2013 horror movie. What started with Ed and Lorraine Warren investigating a terrifying farmhouse has expanded into a connected world featuring demonic nuns, cursed dolls, haunted families and some of the most recognizable horror villains of the modern era.

With The Conjuring: Last Rites now completing the latest chapter of the main Warren story, the franchise timeline has become more complicated than ever. The movies were not released in chronological order, and several spin-offs take place decades before the original The Conjuring.

So, how does everything connect?

Here is the complete story timeline, from The Nun to The Conjuring: Last Rites.

1. The Nun – 1952

The chronological journey begins in 1952 with The Nun, which takes place at a remote monastery in Romania.

The movie introduces Valak, the demonic entity that later becomes one of the most important supernatural figures in the Conjuring Universe. Sister Irene and Father Burke are sent to investigate mysterious events surrounding the monastery and soon discover that something far more dangerous is hiding there.

Valak's importance becomes much clearer when the timeline reaches The Conjuring 2. The character is not simply another unrelated demon but one of the recurring supernatural forces connected to the larger universe.

2. Annabelle: Creation – 1955

Three years later, the story moves to 1955 with Annabelle: Creation.

The movie explores the origins of the Annabelle doll and explains how it became associated with a demonic presence. A dollmaker and his wife open their home to several orphaned girls, but their decision eventually unleashes something terrifying.

The film takes place before the events of Annabelle, making it an important piece of the cursed-doll storyline.

What makes the timeline especially interesting is that the Annabelle story eventually connects back to the Warren family and their collection of dangerous supernatural objects.

3. The Nun II – 1956

The story then moves to France in 1956 with The Nun II.

Sister Irene is once again confronted by Valak, continuing the demon's story after the events of the first Nun movie.

The film also strengthens the connection between Valak and the wider Conjuring mythology. Although the characters and locations are different from the Warren investigations, the supernatural threat eventually becomes connected to the events seen much later in The Conjuring 2.

This is one of the clearest examples of how the franchise uses different time periods to build a larger horror mythology.

4. Annabelle – 1967

The timeline jumps forward to 1967 with Annabelle.

This movie focuses on a young couple who receive the mysterious Annabelle doll. What initially appears to be an ordinary object soon becomes the center of a series of terrifying supernatural events.

The film was released in 2014, shortly after the first The Conjuring, but its story takes place years earlier.

The connection is easy to miss if the movies are watched according to release date. The Annabelle doll had already appeared in the Warren family's collection in The Conjuring, which means viewers already knew the object was dangerous before learning more about its history.

5. The Conjuring – 1971

Everything begins to come together in 1971 with the original The Conjuring.

This is the movie that introduced audiences to Ed and Lorraine Warren, played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga. The couple investigate the Perron family's frightening experiences after they move into a farmhouse in Rhode Island.

The case introduces many of the elements that would become central to the franchise: demonic activity, haunted objects, spiritual visions and the Warrens' unusual ability to investigate paranormal cases.

The movie also establishes the Warrens' artifact room, where dangerous objects are kept under protection.

Among those objects is Annabelle.

That small detail helped create the foundation for an entire cinematic universe.

6. Annabelle Comes Home – 1972

Only a year later, the story moves to 1972 in Annabelle Comes Home.

This time, the action takes place much closer to the Warrens themselves. Ed and Lorraine bring the Annabelle doll into their artifact room and place it inside a protective case.

But when their daughter Judy and her friends become involved with the collection, Annabelle's presence creates a new series of supernatural problems.

The movie is important because it turns the Warren artifact room into a major part of the universe.

Rather than focusing on one haunted house, Annabelle Comes Home shows just how many dangerous objects the Warrens have encountered during their investigations.

7. The Curse of La Llorona – 1973

The story can next be placed around 1973 with The Curse of La Llorona.

The movie follows a social worker and her children as they become targets of the legendary spirit known as La Llorona.

There is a connection to Annabelle through Father Perez, who appears in the story and references the Annabelle case.

However, this movie occupies a complicated position within the franchise. While it contains connections to the other films, it has generally not been treated as an official core entry in the same way as the main Conjuring and Annabelle films.

For viewers building a complete timeline, it can be considered a connected side story rather than an essential chapter.

8. The Conjuring 2 – 1977

The timeline then reaches one of the franchise's most important chapters: The Conjuring 2, set in 1977.

Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to Enfield, England, to investigate a disturbing haunting involving the Hodgson family.

This is where Valak returns in a major way.

The demonic nun first introduced in The Nun becomes one of the central supernatural threats facing Lorraine. Her visions and connection to the entity give the earlier Nun movies greater significance.

The movie also expands Lorraine's psychic abilities and shows how dangerous paranormal investigations have become for the Warrens.

9. The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It – 1981

The next major Warren case takes place in 1981.

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It moves away from the traditional haunted-house setup and focuses on a murder case involving Arne Cheyenne Johnson.

Ed and Lorraine investigate the supernatural circumstances surrounding the case and attempt to determine whether demonic influence played a role.

The movie is based around a real-world case, although, like the other Conjuring films, its supernatural elements are presented as horror fiction.

This chapter is important because it shows the Warrens dealing with a threat that extends beyond a haunted building and into a criminal investigation.

10. The Conjuring: Last Rites – 1986

The latest chapter takes the timeline to 1986 with The Conjuring: Last Rites.

The film brings Ed and Lorraine Warren back for another major case involving the Smurl family. The story also gives greater attention to the Warrens' daughter, Judy, as she grows older.

By this point in the timeline, Ed and Lorraine have spent decades confronting supernatural cases.

Last Rites was released in September 2025 and was presented as the final main chapter of the Warren story. The official movie material places the story around the Smurl haunting and continues the franchise's focus on the Warren family.

The film therefore sits at the end of the currently established chronological timeline.

The Complete Conjuring Timeline at a Glance

For viewers who want to watch the movies according to the events of the story, the timeline is:

The Nun — 1952

Annabelle: Creation — 1955

The Nun II — 1956

Annabelle — 1967

The Conjuring — 1971

Annabelle Comes Home — 1972

The Curse of La Llorona — 1973 — side connection

The Conjuring 2 — 1977

The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It — 1981

The Conjuring: Last Rites — 1986

The precise placement of some connections can be debated, particularly The Curse of La Llorona, but the major nine-film Conjuring Universe timeline runs from the 1950s through the 1980s. Several published guides also place Last Rites at the end of the chronological story.

Why The Conjuring Timeline Is So Complicated

One reason the franchise timeline can be difficult to follow is that the movies were released in a completely different order from their story chronology.

The first The Conjuring arrived in 2013. Annabelle followed in 2014, while The Conjuring 2 arrived in 2016. The franchise then continued expanding through prequels such as Annabelle: Creation and The Nun.

This means audiences were often introduced to a character or object before discovering its origin.

The Annabelle doll is a perfect example.

Viewers first saw the doll inside the Warrens' collection before getting a full movie exploring its earlier history. Valak works in a similar way, appearing as a major threat in The Conjuring 2 before receiving origin-focused stories in The Nun films.

That storytelling approach makes the universe feel larger because every new movie can reveal another piece of an existing mystery.

How The Movies Connect

At the center of almost everything are Ed and Lorraine Warren.

The spin-offs may focus on different families, locations and supernatural entities, but the Warren investigations provide the backbone of the franchise.

Annabelle connects through the Warrens' artifact collection. Valak connects the Nun storyline with The Conjuring 2. Recurring characters and references provide additional links between several movies.

The result is a universe where individual stories can stand alone while still contributing to a larger mythology.

What Is the Best Way to Watch The Conjuring Movies?

There are two ways to experience the franchise.

The first is release order, which allows viewers to experience the mysteries in the same general way audiences originally encountered them.

The second is chronological order, which lets viewers follow the fictional timeline from the earliest events to the latest Warren case.

For someone watching the franchise for the first time, release order can preserve the original reveals and connections. For someone who has already seen the movies and wants to understand how the stories fit together, chronological order makes the overall timeline easier to follow.

The Bigger Picture

The Conjuring Universe is ultimately less about one single demon or haunted house and more about a network of supernatural stories connected through the Warrens, cursed objects and recurring entities.

From Valak's appearance in 1952 to the later Warren cases in the 1970s and 1980s, each movie adds another layer to the mythology.

And while The Conjuring: Last Rites brings the main Warren storyline to its latest endpoint, the larger universe has already established enough characters, artifacts and supernatural threats to leave plenty of room for future stories.

For horror fans, that is what makes the timeline so fascinating: the scariest connections are sometimes hidden in the smallest details.