The Scream franchise is one of the most iconic horror series ever put to the screen. Having been around since 1996, the series helped reinvent and revitalize the slasher film, kicking off a short-lived slasher craze that lasted for roughly a decade. Smart, sarcastic, and above all else scary, the Scream films are also unique in the landscape of horror in that, unlike their dramatic predecessors in the Nightmare on Elm Street or Texas Chainsaw Massacre series, each sequel in the Scream saga is entertaining in its own right.
Fortunately, the Scream series follows a largely straightforward linear path, focusing on the same few characters from film to film rather than introducing a new group of main characters in each movie (a trait associated with most slashers of its kind). With its latest sequels, however, it might be getting increasingly difficult for some fans to know the linear order to watch the Scream movies and what exactly the overall timeline is within the Scream universe.
From the initial entry in the series to its latest installments, here is every Scream movie organized in chronological order. (Needless to say, spoilers ahead for each Scream movie outlined below.)
Scream
While Scream was obviously the first entry in the Wes Craven-directed series, Scream 3 retconned much of the preliminary story surrounding the events of the franchise’s initial installment. Rejected by his estranged mother, Maureen Prescott, the disillusioned Roman Bridger (Scott Bridger) collected evidence of Maureen’s affair with Hank Loomis and Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber). After Hank’s wife, Nancy (Laurie Metcalf), left him upon uncovering his infidelity on her own, Roman showed the footage of Maureen and Hank’s affair to the Loomis’s son, Billy (Skeet Ulrich), who blamed Maureen for breaking his family apart.
Enraged, Billy orchestrated a plan with Roman, recruiting his best friend, Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard), to kill Maureen and frame Cotton for her murder. Believing Cotton was wrongfully convicted, reporter Gale Weathers (Courtney Cox) pens a book about the crime, asserting Cotton’s innocence and building a reputation for herself as an investigative journalist.
One year after Maureen’s death, Billy and Stu murder Stu’s former girlfriend, Casey Becker (Drew Barrymore), and her boyfriend in their signature Ghostface costumes. As speculation runs rampant regarding the killer’s identity, Billy psychologically manipulates his girlfriend, Maureen’s daughter Sidney (Neve Campbell), even as he’s widely speculated to be the murderer by the police and his friends.
When Stu decides to throw a party at his house, the two Ghostface killers go on a vicious spree, murdering several more people – including Stu’s girlfriend, Tatum Riley (Rose McGowan). Cornering Sidney in Stu’s kitchen, the two murderers reveal their true identity, taking responsibility for the recent killings and Maureen’s death. After a momentary distraction from an injured Gale, Sidney turns the tables against both of her would-be murderers, killing them both and ending the first generation of Ghostface slayings in Woodsboro.
Scream 2
In the wake of Billy and Stu’s massacre, Gale uses the opportunity to write a nonfiction book based on the killings titled “The Woodsboro Murders” – a book that soon provides the source material for a series of slasher films dubbed the Stab series. Two years after the original murders, the release of Stab prompts a copycat killer to murder two Windsor College students attending the movie’s premiere, leading the police to correctly assume a new person has taken up the mantle of Ghostface.
As news of these Stab killings spread, Sidney – who has since graduated and enrolled in Windsor – begins to suspect that her new boyfriend, Derek Feldman (Jerry O’Connell), is behind the murders. At the same time, Sidney’s fellow Woodsboro survivors – Gale, Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and Randy Meeks (Jamie Kennedy) – investigate the murders on their own, with Randy brutally murdered after making some insulting comments about Billy and Stu.
After being chased by Ghostface across the campus, Sidney confronts the killer at Windsor’s theater building, who reveal themselves as Derek’s best friend, Mickey Altieri (Timothy Olyphant), and Billy’s mother, Nancy Loomis, the latter of whom is seeking revenge against Sidney for her son’s death. With the help of Cotton Weary – who’s since been freed from prison due to Billy and Stu’s crimes coming to light – Sidney once again overpowers the two killers, murdering them in self-defense. As police and ambulance arrive, Gale and a seriously injured Dewey reunite, having formed a close romance with one another due to their time together.
Scream 3
Three years after Mickey and Nancy’s murders at Windsor College, a new Ghostface emerges in Hollywood, targeting people associated with the upcoming production of Stab 3: Return to Woodsboro. To find Sidney – who’s since graduated and gone into hiding under an assumed name – this new Ghostface goes after Cotton Weary, killing the now-successful talk show host after he refuses to reveal Sidney’s location.
With her identity soon compromised, Sidney ventures to Los Angeles with her friends, Gale and Dewey, who Ghostface relentlessly pursues. With the original Woodsboro survivors and the cast and crew of Stab 3 meeting at the house of producer John Milton (Lance Henriksen), the new Ghostface reveals his identity as Roman Bridger, Stab 3’s director and Maureen’s illegitimate son, who goes on to tell his half-sister his role in Maureen’s death. Once again outsmarting her would-be killer, Sidney is narrowly saved by Dewey, who arrives and shoots Roman in the head, formally ending the third wave of Ghostface killings.
Scream 4
Ten years after her brush with her half-brother Roman in Hollywood, Sidney has become a successful author, completing a self-help book detailing her own traumatic experiences. Returning home to Woodsboro for her publicity tour, Sidney reconnects with her aunt Kate (Mary McDonnell) and teenage cousin Jill (Emma Roberts). Upon her arrival, however, Sidney is shocked to learn that another killer has assumed the role of Ghostface, preying on the next generation of Woodsboro teens.
With the now-married Gale and Dewey – the latter of whom has become the town’s sheriff – Sidney pursues the killer, helping Jill and her best friend Kirby Reed (Hayden Panettiere) stay one step ahead of Ghostface. Unfortunately, many of Jill’s friends and family, including her mother Kate, are murdered along the way, with Gale wounded by Ghostface after sneaking into the town’s annual “Stabathon” film festival.
Retreating to Kirby’s house, Jill soon reveals herself as the killer, impersonating Ghostface alongside her secret lover and accomplice, Charlie Walker (Rory Culkin). Having grown tired of Sidney’s celebrity status, Jill tells her cousin that she organized the killings to position herself as the final girl, succeeding Sidney’s place in the limelight and becoming famous in the process. After murdering Charlie herself, she frames him and her boyfriend Trevor Sheldon (Nico Tortorella) for the killings, stabbing Sidney and purposefully injuring herself to ensure her alibi is airtight.
Surprisingly, Sidney survives her injuries, combating Jill in Woodsboro’s hospital. With some assistance from Gale and Dewey, the three manage to kill Jill, surviving yet another massacre orchestrated by a Ghostface murderer.
Scream (2022)
Ten years after Jill’s death and 25 years after Billy and Stu’s original Ghostface killings, yet another Ghostface emerges in Woodsboro, nearly killing 18-year-old high school student Tara Carpenter (Jenna Ortega). Reeling from the news of Tara’s attack, Tara’s older sister Sam (Melissa Barrera) and her boyfriend Richie Kirsch (Jack Quaid) arrive in Woodsboro, comforting Tara as she recuperates in the hospital. While there, Sam reveals to Tara that she is actually the illegitimate child of Billy Loomis, having experienced increasingly troubling hallucinations of her father, who urges Sam to embrace her darker side.
With the new Ghostface seemingly preying on the family members of people associated with the first Woodsboro massacre, Sam and Richie reach out to Dewey for help. Though reluctant at first, Dewey – who has since retired as the town’s sheriff and gone through a bitter divorce with Gale – soon agrees to help, instructing the Woodsboro teens on how to survive Ghostface’s onslaught.
Stopping Ghostface when the killer again tries to kill Tara in the hospital, Dewey is viciously stabbed by death by the murderer, prompting Sidney and Gale to return to Woodsboro once more. When trying to leave town with Tara, Sam, and Richie are forced to venture to Tara’s best friend Amber’s (Mikey Madison) house (formerly Stu Macher’s residence) to find Tara’s inhaler. There, the three find themselves in the middle of a trap set up by Ghostface, who is revealed to be both Richie and Amber. Embittered by the recent direction of the Stab series, the two tell Sam that they came up with the murders to provide source material for future Stab films, hoping to pin the murders on Sam due to her familial connection to Billy.
When Sidney and Gale arrive at the scene, the two help Sam and Tara get the better of Richie and Amber, with Sam wildly slashing Richie to death, briefly giving in to her family’s history of violence. Reuniting with Tara’s friends, fellow survivors Chad (Mason Gooding) and Mindy Meeks-Martin (Jasmin Savoy Brown), the group celebrate defeating the killers, collectively grieving the loss of Dewey.
Scream VI
One year after Richie and Amber’s killing spree, Sam and Tara have moved to New York City, Tara attending Blackmore University with her longtime friends Chad and Mindy and new roommate, Quinn Bailey (Liana Liberato). Shortly after their arrival, Blackmore film professor Laura Crane (Samara Weaving) is killed by Ghostface killer Jason Carvey (Tony Revolori), a Stab-obsessed Blackmore student who plans to fulfill Richie and Amber’s plans to kill Sam and Tara with his roommate, Greg. After killing Crane, however, Jason and Greg are killed by another Ghostface killer seeking revenge against the Carpenter sisters.
As news of these murders spread, F.B.I. agent and former Ghostface victim Kirby Reed arrives to investigate. Initially seeking strength in numbers, Sam, Tara, and their friends are suddenly attacked by Ghostface in their apartment building, murdering Quinn and Mindy’s girlfriend, Anika (Devyn Nekoda). Shortly afterward, Ghostface comes close to murdering Gale, leaving her hospitalized with severe injuries. Desperate to defend themselves, Sam and her friends plan an ambush with Kirby and Quinn’s detective father, Wayne (Dermot Mulroney), hoping to corner Ghostface at a hidden museum dedicated to past Ghostface murders.
Once there, the killer re-emerges, with Wayne, Quinn (who faked her death), and Chad’s roommate Ethan (Jack Champion) revealing themselves behind the recent murders. Outing themselves as Richie’s family members, Wayne and his two remaining children donned the Ghostface mask to avenge Richie’s death, intending to kill Sam and frame her for their murders. With Kirby, Sam and Tara gain the upper hand against the Kirsches, killing them all one by one. Reuniting with a wounded Mindy and Chad, the survivors of the Kirsches ponder their future, with Sam and Tara leaving the museum to resume their lives together in the city.
Richard Chachowski is a freelance writer based in New Jersey. He loves reading, his dog Tootsie, and pretty much every movie to ever exist (especially Star Wars).
