The Ultimate Guide: All 13 Halloween Movies In Order And The Four Confusing Timelines Explained

Trying to marathon the Halloween movie franchise before the holiday season this December 10, 2025? Be warned: what seems like a simple slasher series is actually one of the most confusing, timeline-shattering sagas in horror history, spanning 13 films, four distinct continuities, and decades of retcons. The story of Michael Myers and his eternal pursuit of Laurie Strode is not linear, but rather a tangled web of reboots, soft reboots, and sequels that completely ignore each other.

To truly appreciate the terror of The Shape, you need a map. This ultimate guide breaks down all 13 Halloween movies in their official release order, then provides the four separate chronological viewing orders—from the convoluted "Thorn" storyline to the modern, streamlined Blumhouse trilogy—so you can finally choose your own path into the heart of Haddonfield's evil.

The Definitive List: All 13 Halloween Movies in Release Order

For purists or those who want to experience the franchise as audiences did, watching the films in their original theatrical release order is the simplest method. This order is the only one that includes the standalone, Michael Myers-less entry, Halloween III: Season of the Witch.

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• 1. Halloween (1978)
• 2. Halloween II (1981)
• 3. Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) - The Anthology Film
• 4. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
• 5. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
• 6. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)
• 7. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) - Starts the H20 Timeline
• 8. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
• 9. Halloween (2007) - Rob Zombie Remake
• 10. Halloween II (2009) - Rob Zombie Sequel
• 11. Halloween (2018) - Starts the Blumhouse Timeline
• 12. Halloween Kills (2021)
• 13. Halloween Ends (2022) - The Final Chapter (for now)

The Four Parallel Timelines: How to Watch Chronologically

The reason the Halloween franchise is so confusing is that every few years, a new creative team decides to ignore all or most of the previous sequels to tell a fresh story. This has resulted in four distinct, non-overlapping continuities, each with its own version of Michael Myers, Laurie Strode, and Dr. Loomis.

1. The Original/Thorn Timeline (The Cult of Thorn)

This is the longest and most convoluted timeline, introducing the "Curse of Thorn" as the supernatural explanation for Michael Myers's evil and his obsession with his family. It features the original scream queen, Jamie Lee Curtis, for two films before replacing her with other characters, including Laurie's daughter, Jamie Lloyd.

• 1. Halloween (1978)
• 2. Halloween II (1981)
• 3. Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers (1988)
• 4. Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989)
• 5. Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (1995)

Note on Halloween III: Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982) exists in its own "Anthology" continuity. John Carpenter originally intended for the franchise to be a series of different horror stories, but after the film's failure to feature Michael Myers, the studio quickly reverted to the slasher formula. It is entirely optional and has no connection to The Shape or Laurie Strode.

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2. The H20/Resurrection Timeline

In 1998, the franchise executed its first major retcon, bringing back Jamie Lee Curtis and completely ignoring the events of Halloween 4, 5, and 6 (the Thorn storyline). This timeline focuses on Laurie Strode living under a new identity after faking her death and trying to move on from her traumatic past.

• 1. Halloween (1978)
• 2. Halloween II (1981)
• 3. Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998)
• 4. Halloween: Resurrection (2002)

This continuity is often criticized for its final entry, Resurrection, which features a controversial ending for the iconic Laurie Strode and introduces a reality TV show element to the Myers house in Haddonfield.

3. The Rob Zombie Remake Timeline

Director Rob Zombie rebooted the entire franchise in 2007 with a darker, grittier vision. His films are a complete departure from the original, focusing heavily on Michael Myers's troubled childhood and the psychological reasons behind his murderous rampage. This timeline is a standalone two-film series.

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• 1. Halloween (2007) - A complete remake of the 1978 original.
• 2. Halloween II (2009) - A direct sequel to the 2007 film.

Zombie's films are known for their extreme violence and for providing an unprecedented level of backstory to the seemingly motiveless killer, a choice that remains divisive among longtime fans of the franchise.

4. The Blumhouse/David Gordon Green Trilogy (The Current Canon)

This is the most recent and currently canonical timeline, produced by Blumhouse and directed by David Gordon Green. It performs the most extreme retcon of all: it ignores every single sequel and remake ever made, serving as a direct sequel only to the original 1978 masterpiece by John Carpenter.

• 1. Halloween (1978)
• 2. Halloween (2018) - Takes place 40 years later.
• 3. Halloween Kills (2021) - Takes place immediately after the 2018 film.
• 4. Halloween Ends (2022) - Features a time jump four years later.

In this continuity, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is not Michael Myers's sister, and Dr. Loomis's fate is different. She is a survivalist grandmother who has spent decades preparing for Michael's inevitable return to Haddonfield, turning her into an iconic horror heroine for a new generation.

Why the Halloween Franchise Has So Many Timelines

The constant reboots and retcons are a unique feature of the Halloween franchise, a direct result of its enduring popularity and the shifting creative hands over the decades. The original 1978 film, directed by John Carpenter, was an immediate success, but subsequent creative teams struggled to maintain a consistent narrative while keeping the core elements—Michael Myers, the mask, and the town of Haddonfield—fresh.

The primary reason for the timeline chaos lies in the fundamental mystery of Michael Myers himself. Carpenter's original vision was that Michael was pure evil, the "Shape" of terror with no discernible motive.

• The Thorn Problem: Halloween II (1981) introduced the twist that Laurie Strode was Michael's sister. The "Thorn" sequels (4, 5, 6) then complicated this by adding a bizarre, ancient Celtic cult that controlled Michael, essentially removing his "pure evil" status and replacing it with a supernatural curse. This was widely seen as a mistake that diluted the horror.
• The Need for Laurie Strode: The franchise's biggest draw, outside of Michael, is Jamie Lee Curtis's Laurie Strode. To bring her back for H20 and the 2018 Blumhouse film, the filmmakers had to strategically ignore the sequels that had killed her off or replaced her, effectively hitting the "reset" button to capitalize on her star power and the strength of the original film's simple premise.
• Modernizing the Horror: The Rob Zombie remakes were an attempt to modernize the slasher genre, focusing on trauma and psychological depth, a trend popular in 2000s horror. This required wiping the slate clean entirely.

Ultimately, the multiple timelines are the franchise's way of trying to get back to the terrifying simplicity of the 1978 original. The Blumhouse trilogy, which explicitly discards all sequels, is the most successful attempt to do so, proving that less is often more when dealing with the enigmatic evil of Michael Myers.

Key Entities and Topical Authority in the Halloween Universe

Understanding the core characters and concepts is essential for navigating the timelines. These entities are the glue that holds the disparate stories together:

• Michael Myers (The Shape): The silent, masked killer. His motivation and origin change with every timeline, from being a victim of the "Curse of Thorn" to simply being "pure evil" in the Blumhouse continuity.
• Laurie Strode: The original "final girl," played by Jamie Lee Curtis. She is Michael's sister in the Original/H20 timelines, but a random victim who escaped his first rampage in the Blumhouse timeline.
• Dr. Sam Loomis: Michael's psychiatrist, played by the late Donald Pleasence. He is the voice of warning, the man who knows Michael is not a man but a force of nature. His character is recast in the Rob Zombie films.
• Haddonfield, Illinois: The fictional, seemingly cursed setting for almost every film in the franchise, where Michael always returns on Halloween night.
• John Carpenter: The director and co-writer of the 1978 original. His involvement (often as a producer and composer) in the Blumhouse trilogy gave that timeline critical legitimacy.

Whether you choose the complex mythology of the Thorn series or the streamlined terror of the Blumhouse films, the Halloween franchise offers a rich, if confusing, history of slasher cinema. Pick a timeline, dim the lights, and prepare to face the evil that walked among us.