Did You Spot This (incredibly Nerdy) Conjuring Timeline Problem?

Since The Conjuring started to branch off into its own terrifying shared universe, the timeline has largely been kept intact.

Even when Annabelle, which was already a prequel, ended up getting a prequel of its own – 2017's Annabelle: Creation – everything fitted together well and there were no Spider-Man: Homecoming-style continuity goofs.

Until now. And it's all thanks to Annabelle Comes Home.

The threequel kicks off with the same scene from The Conjuring cold open as Ed and Lorraine Warren first come into contact with Annabelle.

As established in The Conjuring, this scene took place in 1968 (this is important, remember it), and in Annabelle Comes Home, after the Warrens manage to lock Annabelle away in their room of cursed artefacts, the movie jumps ahead one year.

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And if you weren't sure that it really said 'one year later', take it away producer Peter Safran: "This film starts right after the prologue of the first Conjuring... We cut to a year later, and she ends up activating a lot of the artefacts that are in the artefact room."

So that firmly sets Annabelle Comes Home in 1969, before the majority of The Conjuring takes place in 1971, centred on the real-life case of the Perron family who experienced seemingly paranormal events at their home.

However, that doesn't explain why the music box from the Perron case is seen in the artefacts room in Annabelle Comes Home. Ed put it in the room at the end of The Conjuring, so it can't possibly have been there in 1969.

To make matters worse, the movie also features Badfinger's 1971 hit song 'Day After Day', and no amount of spooky shenanigans can solve the conundrum of how it was playing two years before its release.

Maybe Annabelle is a time-travelling cursed doll too.

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One possible explanation: Annabelle Comes Home is actually set in 1972 and is "one year later" than The Conjuring, but the team behind the franchise forgot that the cold open to The Conjuring had been set in 1968.

Are we thinking about this too much? Almost definitely. But we do it so you don't have to.

Annabelle Comes Home is out now.

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Ian Sandwell

Movies Editor, Digital Spy Ian has more than 10 years of movies journalism experience as a writer and editor. Starting out as an intern at trade bible Screen International, he was promoted to report and analyse UK box-office results, as well as carving his own niche with horror movies, attending genre festivals around the world. After moving to Digital Spy, initially as a TV writer, he was nominated for New Digital Talent of the Year at the PPA Digital Awards. He became Movies Editor in 2019, in which role he has interviewed 100s of stars, including Chris Hemsworth, Florence Pugh, Keanu Reeves, Idris Elba and Olivia Colman, become a human encyclopedia for Marvel and appeared as an expert guest on BBC News and on-stage at MCM Comic-Con. Where he can, he continues to push his horror agenda – whether his editor likes it or not.