There’s a chill in the air. The leaves are about to fall. Pumpkin spice is back on the shelves. It’s finally spooky season, which means that it’s the perfect time to kick-start your horror marathons. With nine films in its universe, The Conjuring franchise is bound to make an appearance on our screens at least once from now until Halloween. Whether that’s doing a rewatch at home or watching a new one in the theatre, for many, it’s a tradition. Admittedly, the films in the franchise haven’t always been good. The Nun, for example, is one of the worst. Luckily, though, Michael Chaves’s The Nun II is a masterpiece in comparison.

The last time we saw Sister Irene (Taissa Farmiga) and the demon known as Valak (Bonnie Aarons), Irene was spitting Jesus’s blood in the demon nun’s face. Unbeknownst to her, however, was that Valak had already possessed Maurice (Jonas Bloquet), the guide who had taken Irene to where he found a nun hanging by her neck. The nuns of St. Cartha wouldn’t be the only ones Valak would go on to murder. Thanks to Maurice and his desire to be a world traveler, the demon uses him as a vessel to haunt and murder many holy figures across Europe. What happened to Irene four years prior is seen as a miracle, retold from nun to nun like a fantastical legend. Irene thought she moved passed the horror she witnessed, but it’s come back to haunt her.

The Church asks for a second shot at a miracle; for Irene to face Valak again and rid the world of the demon for good. Saying goodbye to her peaceful, reclusive life in Italy, she, and rebellious young noviciate Debra (Storm Reid), set off on an investigation into how Valak could be back and what it’s looking for. Their investigation, and Irene’s visions, eventually lead them to seek out Maurice, who’s been working at a girls’ boarding school in France. The “Frenchie” has no idea that he’s carrying this darkness with him, and as he forms a deeper relationship with a teacher named Kate (Anna Popplewell) and her daughter Sophie (Katelyn Rose Downey), it may become impossible to protect them. The faith of every character is put to the test in this examination of what a miracle really is.

Where the previous installment failed, this sequel improves upon greatly. Everything from the performances to the writing and scares are much better this time around. The screenplay by Ian Goldberg, Richard Naing, and Akela Cooper is much stronger, with the absence of the overabundance of flirty dialogue in the last film. The story is now working off of much bigger set pieces too, which provides more to work this. We are also provided with more insight into Irene and where she fits in the franchise overall. Farmiga makes for a perfect scream queen, while Reid stands out on her own, getting right in the middle of the action. Bloquet gets more to work with here, too, as he demonstrates the outward confusion and inner torment of a man possessed.

When it comes to the scares, they go hard. The first film was plagued with scares more comical than effective. While some here are still pretty kooky, and happen with a frequency to sometimes give the impression it’s trying too hard, most are more creative and genuinely unnerving. For example, the highlight of the trailer is fantastic work: magazines flipping to reveal the silhouette of our favorite nun-disguised demon. How they film Valak still remains nightmare-fueled. The cinematography and lighting combined with its makeup and costume blend perfectly with shadow - peering out from the dark never fails to evoke fear. The Conjuring franchise knows how to build an eerie atmosphere, and that continues here.

Since the demon’s first appearance in The Conjuring 2, it has remained the franchise’s more terrifying yet fascinating creation. If you thought The Nun was bad, there’s a chance you’ll still want to see this sequel because of the character alone. Finding darkness in the most holy places, and the challenge of finding faith when you need it most make for a gripping horror tale. The Nun 2 is a bigger film than the last. The stakes are higher and the haunting follows the characters further, and it keeps us looking over our shoulder like the best ghost stories. It may not be anywhere near getting a spot on a list of best horror films, but when it works, it really works.