James Wan’s The Conjuring universe continues to grow, and a new poster for The Nun promises we’re about to see the “darkest chapter”. Produced by Conjuring duo Wan and Peter Safran, The Nun recruits The Hallow director Corin Hardy to explore the origins of Valak — the cloistered demon that tormented The Warrens in the The Conjuring 2.

Keeping tradition with the previous Conjuring spinoffs, Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation, The Nun is a prequel centered on one of Wan’s creepy creations. This time, we travel to an abbey in Romania where the Vatican dispatches a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows to investigate after a young nun commits suicide. Together, the duo uncovers the order’s unholy secret, risking their lives and their very souls to confront the the demon. The screenplay comes from IT and Annabelle scribe Gary Dauberman, who co-wrote the story with Wan.

Speaking with Empire, Hardy explained that the film is mean to evoke a bygone era of horror. “The period and the setting and the scope of it hark back to really classic, old-school, scarlet-blooded horror films,” He said. “And I loved that the story was a character-driven mystery as well as a scary horror movie.” When we spoke with Dauberman last year, the writer described it as a "very atmospheric, very moody" movie inspired by the Hammer Horror films.

Demian Bichir (Alien: Covenant) as Father Burke, Taissa Farmiga (American Horror Story) as Sister Irene, and Jonas Bloquet (Elle) as local villager Frenchie. Charlotte Hope (Game of Thrones) as the abbey’s Sister Victoria, Ingrid Bisu (Toni Erdmann) as Sister Oana, and Bonnie Aarons, who reprises her role as the titular demonic force. Check back tomorrow for the first trailer, and check out the spooky new poster below.

Here's the official synopsis for The Nun:

"When a young nun at a cloistered abbey in Romania takes her own life, a priest with a haunted past and a novitiate on the threshold of her final vows are sent by the Vatican to investigate. Together they uncover the order’s unholy secret. Risking not only their lives but their faith and their very souls, they confront a malevolent force in the form of the same demonic nun that first terrorized audiences in “The Conjuring 2,” as the abbey becomes a horrific battleground between the living and the damned."