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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →The Conjuring films feature a gallery of spirits, demons and supernatural manifestations, but the available director comments do not explain every figure—or establish that they are all the same entity. James Wan and Michael Chaves discussed several franchise figures in a 2025 video; other filmmakers have offered specific explanations of Annabelle, the scarecrow in Annabelle: Creation and the Ferryman. Here is what those comments and the films’ reported case inspirations support, kept separate from claims about real-world events.
What the directors’ 2025 breakdown covers—and what it does not
Entertainment Weekly listed a September 5, 2025 video in which directors James Wan and Michael Chaves break down spirits and demons through The Conjuring: Last Rites. AOL’s republication names Annabelle, Bathsheba Sherman, the Crooked Man, Bee Mullins and the Nun among the figures discussed. Those sources establish the video’s scope, but the transcript is not available here, so they do not support a reliable account of what Wan or Chaves said about each figure individually. Entertainment Weekly’s video listing; AOL’s summary.
That distinction matters: a film’s supernatural story is one thing; a director’s comments about design or scare technique are another. A film’s connection to a reported case is a third. None of those, by itself, independently verifies a paranormal event.
Annabelle: an unmoving doll, with evil around her
What the films establish
Annabelle is a recurring doll figure in the franchise. Warner Bros.’ production note says Wan felt she stood out in the first The Conjuring and that audiences wanted more of her story. Annabelle: Creation explores an origin in which grief creates an opening for evil. Warner Bros. production note.
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Why the doll stays still
Director David F. Sandberg said he avoided showing Annabelle visibly move because movement might make her seem comic. Instead, the scares come from threatening events around the motionless doll. Sandberg and the Warner Bros. production note describe the stillness as a deliberate creative constraint used to make her frightening. Sandberg interview.
Does Annabelle share an evil with the scarecrow?
Sandberg said that, in his understanding of Annabelle: Creation, “the scarecrow is basically the same evil.” He also described that film’s doll as different from the doll in The Conjuring and Annabelle, pointing to its slightly different design, and acknowledged that he did not know the whole franchise mythology. His comment is specific to his reading of that film; it is not evidence that every franchise entity is one being.
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Bathsheba, the Crooked Man, Bee Mullins and the Nun
AOL’s account of the Wan and Chaves segment identifies Bathsheba Sherman in The Conjuring (2013), the Crooked Man in The Conjuring 2 (2016), Bee Mullins in Annabelle: Creation (2017), and the Nun in The Nun (2018) and The Nun II (2023). The source confirms that these figures are included in the breakdown, but does not provide the directors’ individual explanations. The available director comments therefore do not specify, for each one, whether the film presents a spirit, demon, possessed person or manifestation, nor do they establish a connection between them.
In particular, there is not enough attributable material here to say that the Crooked Man is Valak, or that Sandberg’s “same evil” comment links either figure to the scarecrow. Treating those connections as director-confirmed would go beyond what the sources establish.
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The Ferryman: a distinct toll-for-souls premise
For Annabelle Comes Home, director Gary Dauberman said the Ferryman’s visual concept drew on coins and the myth of Charon, who carries souls across the River Styx. He described the fictional character’s rule plainly: “If you don’t pay his toll, he takes your soul.” Dauberman said he did not create the figure primarily to launch a spin-off; audience response would matter to any future plans. These are comments about a movie character, not evidence of a real being. Dauberman interview.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Last Rites and the Smurl family’s reported haunting
The Conjuring: Last Rites draws on the Smurl family haunting: the Pennsylvania family alleged that a demon inhabited their home. Director Michael Chaves said the Smurl sisters were involved from script development through production, and described the filmmakers’ approach as listening to their account: “We really wanted to listen to what they said they experienced.” Chaves interview.
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This explains the filmmakers’ reported source and process; it does not independently confirm that a demon was present. AOL reported that Wan and Chaves were keeping the specific ghost details for Last Rites under wraps when the September 5, 2025 feature appeared. The available listing and summary do not supply a chapter-level explanation of that film’s entity.
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- The Conjuring
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What can—and cannot—be said about the franchise’s entities
- Annabelle: Sandberg explained the still-doll scare technique; Warner Bros.’ production note describes the origin explored in Annabelle: Creation.
- The scarecrow: Sandberg connected it to “the same evil” as understood within Annabelle: Creation, not to every other franchise figure.
- The Ferryman: Dauberman described a Charon-inspired toll-for-souls premise.
- Bathsheba, the Crooked Man, Bee Mullins and the Nun: named as subjects of the Wan and Chaves video, but their individual explanations are not established by the available published summary.
- The Smurl haunting: a reported family account that informed Last Rites, not independent proof of paranormal activity.
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