Why let the horror that was your last interaction with a mansplainer, or a bad texter/unequal pay scar you when all you need to do is push a button and let made-up horrors mess you up for a night or two?

While we wait for a decent stream or download of The Conjuring 3: The Devil Made Me Do It, there is absolutely no reason to kill time with filler sitcoms or subpar (and when I say subpar, I mean absolutely crap) movies. And when I say subpar movies I am actually side-eyeing some of the ones that exist in The Conjuring universe itself.

What you can definitely do is watch some of the movies directed or produced by James Wan, who is responsible for the entire Conjuring franchise and the universe. What you can also do is really open your heart to horror this summer, and assume for a week that it is the best genre ever and everything that falls within it deserves a watch. Then send us your experiences and observations: life is all about conversation and collaboration!

To that end, we’ve conjured a selection of movies that will get you in the right frame of mind for The Conjuring’s third instalment:

Start with: The
Conjuring Universe

The Conjuring universe connects itself through eight movies, and you can watch them in the order of the universe’s timeline or by franchise. All the movies in the universe will have you leap up a little, at least once while you watch them. The Annabelle franchise plays on all the usual fears and losses that will wrench your heart and gut. The Conjuring movies are great because they’re like the perfect mashup of horror and mystery, and Ed and Lorraine Warren are totally #goals as a couple. The Insidious franchise swerves between excellent and kind of okay but all the movies are worth one watch at least.

The fly – or flies - in this ointment of perfect horrors have to be The Nun and The Curse Of La Llorona. But don’t let my opinion cloud your judgement: they add to the mosaic of the universe, and therefore serve some purpose. One watch – you have my blessings to speed through these, though The Nun definitely has its moments too.

Move on to: Dead
Silence

So Dead Silence isn’t director James Wan’s favorite, nor did it receive any love on Rotten Tomatoes, but I’m a sucker for a good urban legend and I’m pretty sure I myself am the reincarnation of a vindictive witch, so this movie speaks to me on different levels.

Dead Silence is the ultimate revenge film. It can even work as an allegory for casual misogyny that may evolve into severe cruelty. It features lots of creepy dolls, and if you like aesthetically designed frames and beautiful art direction, you might just love Dead Silence. Plus, watch it if you are a photographer or art student, or just like, a really, really pissed off woman.

Top it all off with: The Cabin In The Woods

Is it horror? Is it satire? Is it actually a hate letter to an entire genre? Or is it really love letter?

Though not a James Wan film, for a crash course in all horror tropes, with some fantastic sets and art direction and effects, please watch The Cabin In The Woods. It follows five youths in the prime of their youth, as they go away for a little retreat in the…cabin in the woods! If you like horror at all or have watched between one and three horror movies in your lifetime, you know that everything that can go wrong will go wrong for the gang, but it’s so beautifully presented that you will be forced to keep watching. Or you may connect with the jokes. Or, one of the characters. It’s not boring, and requires no emotional investment, which is how god intended all good things to be. Watch it when you just can’t with the miscellaneous so-and-so’s in your life, and just want to watch some people be stupid and get killed.

Then watch: Demonic

Demonic isn’t directed by James Wan, but produced by him. But holy hell, this movie had me pausing it frequently because of how much it rattled me. Demonic is a study in short and crisp content and at just under 90 minutes, it is an absolute work of art in the jump-scare department. You will gasp, feel ill, want to reach into the screen and ask the characters why the heck they would split up. You will find yourself so stressed during the 82-minute runtime that you might pick up smoking as a hobby for life.

Your walking-into-an-exam-unprepared dreams do not compare to the intense crescendo of tension Demonic creates. Watch this when you’re really bored, need a little bit of excitement, and then walk away feeling grateful that while your friends aren’t the best listeners or call-backers, or texters, at least they aren’t Satanists trying to turn you into a vessel for demons on a chill Saturday night.