It may come as a shock to know that The Nun [1] is actually the fifth film to take place in what has been dubbed "the Conjuring Universe." This new, exciting horror space, as you know, explores the stories tied to illustrious paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. In the short five years since The Conjuring [2] first terrified audiences in 2013, quite a few new entries have entered the fold. And though The Nun is technically the least based in fact [3], it's still part of this world and packed to the brim with scares. As we move forward into the future, with more movies based in this universe on the horizon, we thought it prudent to establish a timeline of when each story takes place and how they all correlate to each other.
The Nun — 1952
Though it's the most recent addition to the canon, The Nun takes us the farthest back in time, to 1952.
Annabelle: Creation — 1955
A mere three years later, we witness the birth of the haunted Annabelle doll [4]. The mid-50s complement the creepy, simple, and solitary setting in a truly spectacular way.
Annabelle — 1970
The first Annabelle film didn't quite cover the origin of the doll. In this film, the doll was already haunted. But it stood apart from The Conjuring because the doll was the central focus of the film. Though Annabelle plays a large part in The Conjuring, the 2013 film focuses more intently on the witch/entity haunting the Perron family. We're getting serious Rosemary's Baby vibes from the 1970s apartment building setup.
The Conjuring — 1971
Ah, the film that started it all. The Conjuring takes place in the early '70s, which is made abundantly clear by the meticulous attention paid to clothing, equipment, hairstyles, and so on. The nostalgic '70s feel was what made The Conjuring such a successful film in the first place. It was high quality scares with a fresh take on the horror genre.
The Conjuring 2 — 1977
If you ask me, the sequel was just as good as the original. The story of the Enfield haunting [5] also takes place in the '70s, so we got the same special quality captured by the original film. Hopefully this means The Conjuring 3 will launch us right into the '80s!