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16 September, 2025
Scariest Moments from The Conjuring Universe
Dare to discover the top 10 scariest moments in the franchise…
The Conjuring films have given us one of the most successful horror franchises of all time. The first film released in 2013, introducing us to Ed and Lorraine Warren and the real investigations they took on. The franchise then branched off with other iconic characters, exploring beloved antagonists Anabelle and The Nun (or Valak), films that covered different decades, but all had one thing in common: creepy scenes full of paranormal tension and jump scares.
In celebration of the latest release, The Conjuring: Last Rites, we’re remembering some of the scariest moments from the franchise…
(Warning - spoilers ahead!)
10. Running Girl
Movie: Annabelle (2014)
Moment: 00:47:30 - 00:50:14
At the top of our list is this iconic scene from Annabelle. When Mia (Annabelle Wallis) senses a strange presence in her flat and investigates the trail of noises it leaves, she is confronted by a young girl staring at her from across the hallway. Out of nowhere the girl starts charging at her as Mia’s door starts to shut, midway abruptly transforming into a deranged-looking woman who lunges at Mia…terrifying.9. Who’s There?
Movie: Annabelle: Creation (2017)
Moment: 00:38:18 - 00:41:01
Prequel Annabelle: Creation explores the backstory to the creepy titular doll, exploring how the doll came to be, originally modelled after a child with the same name and likeness, down to the iconic ginger plaits and white dress.The grieving parents, the Mullins, house six girls made homeless after their orphanage closes and all seems fine until one of them finds the Annabelle doll. From there on after, strange occurrences scare the girls and family around the house including one night when Nancy (Philippa Coulthard) and Carol (Grace Caroline Currey) are entertaining themselves under a blanket with ghost stories.
It's all fun and games until a figure, just visible from under the blanket, has entered the room, lurking around the girls, whom which they believe to be Mrs Mullins. Fears rise when the figure moves steadily closer to them, but it suddenly disappears. With the girls on edge in the newfound silence, a hand and doll-like face lurches at them through the blanket before disappearing once the girls evacuate the covers.
If that wasn’t enough, Mr. Mullins bursts into the room with the others, explaining to the frightened girls it couldn’t have been Mrs. Mullins; for she never left her bed…
8. Our Father Who Art in Heaven
Movie: The Nun II (2023)
Moment: 00:04:21 - 00:06:36
The terrifying spin-offs, The Nun and The Nun II, focus on one of the franchise’s most, infamous creatures - the Nun (Valak), exploring the backstory of the iconic character fans have loved since Valak’s introduction in The Conjuring 2.Set in 1950s France, the films follow Valak terrorising Sister Irene (played by Tessa Farmiga, younger sister of Vera Farmiga) as Irene attempts to put a stop to her destruction.
One of the scariest scenes however comes from The Nun II’s opening. The film opens in Tarascon, France 1956 following a church sermon. Later that night the altar boy Jacques (Maxime Elias-Menet) warns Father Noiret (Pascal Aubert) that there is someone in the church. Upon hesitantly investigating into the matter, Valak takes no time at all into revealing themself and gruesomely killing Father Noiret in a graphic immolation, mockingly contorting his body into the shape of a cross whilst he burns in the air.
The franchise is no stranger to chilling paranormal scares, but to be instantly met with such an abruptly violent scene immediately becomes far more shocking. The sound of the Father’s bones all simultaneously breaking is enough to make anyone shudder, let alone the startling act of being thrusted into the air as he dramatically sets ablaze. Valak is certainly one for the dramatics and this moment proves they are back and wasting no time to taunt or terrorise their victims.
As the scene instantly establishes the relentless threat that Valak poses, it is no wonder this scene remains one of the most attention-grabbing openings in the entire franchise.
7. Bedtime with Annabelle
Movie: Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Moment: 1:15:11 - 1:16:56
Annabelle Comes Home takes the horror to the next level, as Judy’s babysitters accidentally reawaken all the evil spirits once locked in the Warren’s room of cursed artefacts. Resultantly, led by the iconic Annabelle, the girls are terrorised around the house by multiple demons until they finally manage to put Annabelle back in her case. At the heart of it all, Annabelle is out to play and wastes no time tormenting Judy. As Judy is in bed, a mysterious lump forms in bed next to her. Upon Judy pulling back the covers, a terrifying Annabelle is revealed, scaring Judy enough to throw her off the bed, knocking her nightlight with rotating colour lenses in the process.
The scene’s scare relies on the nightlight’s lighting, as it agonisingly slowly rotates to shift Judy’s room between different colours. Now at an angle on the floor, only lighting up a certain part of Judy’s wall, as the coloured lenses rotate, each new colour reveals a different shadow on the wall behind Annabelle. The silhouettes hauntingly evolve from the Annabele doll sitting up, to a little girl laughing, to a woman holding a knife whispering ‘I like your dolls’, finally to the demon that possesses Annabelle. These figures reference characters from both Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation films.
The scene’s fear factor comes from the genius use of lighting and the imaginative powers that accompany the use of shadows. So simple yet so effective.
6. At the Bottom of the Stairs
Movie: Annabelle (2014)
Moment: 00:55:40 - 00:59:02
Ever wonder where the irrational fear of something chasing you up the stairs after turning the downstairs lights off came from? The first Annabelle instalment may answer that question with thanks to the terrifying scene where the film’s protagonist Mia (Annabelle Wallis) is chased by the demon that possesses the Annabelle doll.After Mia finds herself in her new apartment complex’s basement, confronted with ominous cries coming from a baby stroller in the middle of the room, she is then attacked by the demon and chased up the apartment complex’s stairs. If the fast-paced chase didn’t have your heart racing enough, the pause on the stairs where Mia looks down and sees the demon staring right back at her from below should definitely do it.
A break from the chase, but certainly not from the tension, the agonisingly prolonged shot of the demon - unsettlingly still, crouched at the bottom of the stairs in an inhuman position - taunting Mia vividly sticks in the minds of all who watch the film.
5. The Silent Movie
Movie: Annabelle Comes Home (2019)
Moment: 01:18:07 - 01:18:40
A minor moment, but a scene that remains undeniably creepy. As Daniela (Katie Sarife) finds herself locked in the Warrens’ cursed artefacts room, the scene opens to one artefact, a TV, seemingly mirroring Daniela hesitantly answer the telephone in the room. Suddenly, the TV static cuts to a broadcast of Daniela, covered in blood, near-silently screaming and looking as if directly at the audience, before the camera pans around to reveal Daniela is in fact curled up in a ball on the other end of the room instead.The eery moment proves that not all scary scenes have to be jump scares to be effective, instead the scene’s power lies in how uncomfortable the audience feels from the long-lasting impression the unexpected image leaves, and the fourth wall break it introduces.
The terror continues when the phone actually does ring, with Daniela almost answering it until Judy Warren (Mckenna Grace) bursts into the room and stops her. As the audience, you realise that perhaps the TV’s scary broadcast may have been foreshadowing what would have happened to Daniela if Judy hadn’t stopped her from picking up the phone…
4. ‘There was a Crooked Man…
Movie: The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Moment: 00:55:25 - 00:58:27
...And they all lived together in a crooked little house’. The chilling nursery rhyme that accompanies this criminally underrated character makes his first appearance much scarier.Despite the Hodgson family moving into their neighbours’ house after spooky happenings have taken over theirs, that night the Crooked Man zoetrope comes to life in their empty house, echoing its creepy Crooked Man nursery rhyme and hinting at something sinister heading for the Hodgsons. Certainly enough, the youngest Hodgson, Billy (Benjamin Haigh), is awoken by the sound of a bell ringing and lured to the backdoor where the Crooked Man is impersonating the family dog, Baron. The unsettling transformation that follows of Baron into the Crooked Man’s tall, monstrous self, terrorises Billy and further taunts the family as Janet becomes menacingly possessed again by it, promising to murder the family.
The Crooked Man design will forever be creepy thanks to Javier Botet’s unique physical performance and combined visual effects, mimicking a stop-motion styled design and movements close to the character’s spindly, jagged zoetrope animation. The disturbing transformation from dog to demon is permanently scarred into our memories along with the jarring nursery rhyme he sings and is a scene we cannot forget, even almost ten years later from the film’s release.
3. Hide and Clap
Movie: The Conjuring (2013)
Moment: 00:35:45 - 00:40:45
With an earlier scene where the family play a Marco-Polo-themed game with clapping, named ‘Hide and Clap’, around the house, Carolyn Perron hears the same clapping noise later that night, however confusion sets in once she realises all the girls are sound asleep.Upon wearily investigating the mysterious source of the clapping, from photo frames smashing, to ominous doors opening and piano notes played along the way, the clapping sound finally leads her straight to the basement where she is dramatically locked in by the spirits at hand. Plunged into darkness with only a match for light, from behind her a terrifying child’s voice asking, ‘want to play Hide and Clap?’ startles Carolyn, as the child’s claps blow out her match and leave her screaming, locked in the basement alone, or perhaps not so alone…
A beloved scene by the fans, the masterful creation of suspense stays effective every time, incorporating an array of creepy noises from creaking doors, out of tune piano keys and even children’s laughter. The notion that basements are haunted will forever be reinforced thanks to this incredibly spooky entry on the list.
2. Bathsheba on the Wardrobe
Movie: The Conjuring (2013)
Moment: 00:40:50 - 00:42:41
Immediately after Carolyn gets locked in the basement, Andrea Perron (Shanley Caswell) is awoken by her sister Cindy (Mackenzie Foy) banging her head on the wardrobe in her sleep. After guiding her back to bed, the wardrobe banging eerily continues. Slowly approaching the sound, Andrea opens the wardrobe doors to see nothing inside. Unbeknownst to her, Cindy has woken up behind her, now looking frightened at what she sees on top of the wardrobe, as both Andrea and the audience are jump scared by the terrifying sight of Bathsheba on top of the wardrobe, who launches herself down onto Andrea.A terrifying first reveal of the evil spirit Bathsheba, it’s hard to sleep after watching this scene with how unexpectedly the jump scare is delivered, elevating the paranormal activity around the Perron house from spooky noises to a close up, face-to-face interaction with the spirit behind it all, Bathsheba herself.
1. Lifelike Portrait
Movie: The Conjuring 2 (2016)
Moment: 00:43:32 - 00:47:44
Perhaps the most iconic scene from the entire franchise, its no wonder this is ranked the no.1 scariest scene, remaining just as terrifying almost a decade later.Heavily memed but also heavily feared, this The Conjuring 2 moment starts with the image of Valak standing at the end of the hallway before disappearing into the Warrens’ study with Lorraine following. You never would have guessed you’d be jump scared by ‘Hark the Herald’ in a film, but this scene throws every surprise at you including this, as it abruptly plays the hymn’s chorus loudly, scaring Lorraine from investigating the Nun’s painting and having us all kept on the edge of our seats.
In the dark, the painting looks suspiciously less like a painting and more like the demon itself. The camera uncomfortably lingers on the piercing eyes and distinctive face of the Nun, before the light snaps back on, shifting back to the painting, prompting both Lorraine and the audience to question whether it was the painting all along or Valak hiding in the darkness. Finally, the scene ends with Valak’s silhouette slowly lurking around the study walls to behind the painting, aligned perfectly with its outline, before slowly curling its fingers around the portrait and sprinting at Lorraine.
Throughout the film, the name Valak is cleverly woven in, hidden everywhere from Judy’s friendships bracelets to ornaments on the warren’s bookshelves and even from signs in their kitchen, truly adding to the unsettling feeling that Valak is everywhere, haunting them indefinitely.
And that’s a wrap on our top 10 scariest moments from The Conjuring Universe!
Wondering what scares await in the franchise’s next instalment? Find out and see the fitting close to the Warrens’ story in The Conjuring: Last Rites, in cinemas now - get your tickets here.
Ready to be scared again? Rewatch all your Conjuring favourites here, and discover new scary movies through our Horror page.