The Paranormal Activity Timeline in Chronological Order

It used to be, when things went bump in the night, you'd have to frantically try to convince your loved ones it was something otherworldly based on your word alone. Not so in the 21st century! The Paranormal Activity series brought good old caught on camera, found footage horror home in a big way with its humble beginnings as an indie passion project for director Oren Peli. Subsequent Paranormal Activity movies revealed that initial haunting was only part of a much larger picture that spans decades and even dips back and forth through time. Yes, time travel is a thing in Paranormal Activity! So with Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin starting the franchise back up on Paramount+, let's take a look at the Paranormal Activity Timeline in Chronological Order. Spoilers for each and every movie ahead!

From Paranormal Activity 1 to Paranormal Activity 2 to Paranormal Activity 3 to Paranormal Activity 4, and then all the ones that dropped the numbers in their titles - The Marked Ones, The Ghost Dimension, and Next of Kin - this video tells the full Paranormal Activity story so far. You want a Paranormal Activity ending explained? We cover all that here as well. Wondering about Katie from Paranormal Activity? Got you too. Need answers to all your Asmodeus, Tobi, and Book of Tobit questions. WE ARE ON IT.

Weirdly enough, the Paranormal Activity timeline starts in 1988 with the third film, where sisters Katie and Kristi Featherston live with mom Julie and her videographer boyfriend Dennis in a house with some pretty amazing sightlines that'll come in handy later. Grandma Lois comes by for visits to see the girls and to nose into Julie's personal life. Kristi has been talking to a new imaginary friend, Tobi, whose presence seems to be coinciding with some strange occurrences around the house, like dust falling onto invisible entities! Dennis decides to set up cameras throughout the house to try and catch Tobi on camera, even setting one up on an oscillating fan base to get a better look of the downstairs. But Tobi's pretty camera shy, so he's content to let Kristi do the talking for now.

And of course, you know where it goes from here. We've got Paranormal Activity portals, we've got Paranormal Activity ghosts, we've got Paranormal Activity creepy kids, and we've got Paranormal Activity regular people who freak out and do really, really bad things. It's, like, all really PARANORMAL. So watch our full timeline chronology of Paranormal Activity to get the full story on this enduring horror series.

#IGN #Movies

[diegopansini]

The marked ones is the best just for having gangsters shoot the witches. The theatre roared when it happened

[Zosojuan]

The way tobi went for the family dog is uncalled for

[aidenfrost]

3 was still the best one for me. The dude walking into a dark room filled with a group of old witches was the funniest thing, I'd seen lol.

[scott]

The fact we never really got an explanation of what exactly happened to Katie and her sisters kid bothers me. These movies are a guilty pleasure of mine.

[Stealth]

experiencing these movies in theater was a different experience back in the early 2000's

[JamaalSTL]

I’ll never forget the promotion for the first movie. It was so epic and you just had to go see it to see what it was about.

[jackbro]

The Paranormal Activity storyline is slept on. If you actually understand what's going on it's a great franchise.

[JGRG]

Daniel burning that photo to pass on the demon and his family still dies. The ultimate L

[ethanmyers]

The original story was solid, Katie and that demon was always wild to me, glad the franchise is back

[adamloudermilk]

3 will forever be one of my all time favorite horror movies. It’s by far the scariest of the franchise, and some of the best storytelling setting everything up. Felt like you didn’t need to see 1 or 2 to follow along.

[Carteeeer]

Paranormal activity 3 is still one of my favorite horror movies. Found footage is easily the most immersive and scary style of horror but its held back by all the dogshit movies that try it

[thelastjackson]

That broke down a lot of the confusion of that series. Looking forward to the next one! Thanks IGN

[lindabarrera]

The hispanic maid character trope in horror movies is almost exclusively for aiding the protagonist against paranormal evil. Hispanic culture keeps deep roots in Santeria and witch doctors. We still see Santeria being practiced, even with Catholic-like flair, such as burning sage/incense to bless/spiritually clean a space.

[Pupeyes]

Can’t wait for Paranormal Activity: Home for Christmas haha

[Elibbb-sxkg]

The marked ones from 2014 was the best of the series

[Su]

Thank you for doing this cause the timeline is all over the place which really takes away from this franchise.

[SultanMukut]

the PA series deserves more appreciation. really enjoyed the Next of Kin, very well made and an awesome addition to Paranormal franchise

[denniscleary]

After watching paranormal activity, Katie gives me anxiety just by seeing her

[buddah]

the first one will forever be my favorite, its such a solid story

[Tmaxquake]

Sam and Dean Winchester woulda handled Tobi in 5 mins