The Hellraiser Timeline Explained

Although the realm of Hell and the dark god Leviathan have an unfathomably primaeval existence beyond our comprehension of time, the history of the horrific puzzle box that starts off the "Hellraiser" series is far more recent. Officially known as the Lament Configuration, the device has often been called Lemarchand's box because of its creator.

Clive Barker is eerily vague when describing the history of the many puzzle boxes. "Named after their French designer, the devices were known simply as Lemarchand's boxes," the horror master writes in "The Scarlet Gospels." "In more knowing circles, however, they were also branded with the more truthful name: Lament Configurations. They existed in unknown numbers all around the world."

"Hellraiser IV: Bloodline" does go into more detail about the origin of Lemarchand's box. In 1784, the toymaker Philip Lemarchand constructed the first Lament Configuration. Shortly after, the puzzle box was used to open a gateway to Hell, and the demon princess Angelique emerged from that nightmarish realm to terrorize humanity.

In the 1980s, a man named Frank Cotton bought the Lament Configuration. In the original novella that inspired "Hellraiser," "The Hellbound Heart," Clive Barker describes the steps leading up to the purchase: "It was in Düsseldorf, where he'd gone smuggling heroin, that he again encountered the story of Lemarchand's box. His curiosity was piqued once more, but this time he followed the story up until he found its source. The man's name was Kircher, though he probably laid claim to half a dozen others. Yes, the German could confirm the existence of the box, and yes, he could see his way to letting Frank have it."

In the movie version of "Hellraiser," Cotton procures the box from a foreign merchant in Morocco. Once back home, he opens the puzzle box, unleashing Pinhead and the Cenobites who seize his soul before disappearing back to Hell. Years later, Frank's brother, Larry, moves into the abandoned house with his family and suspects that Frank had lived there but has vacated. Along with Larry are his daughter, Kirsty, and her stepmother, Julia.

While moving in, Larry cuts his hand on a protruding nail and from his spilled blood, inadvertently resurrecting Frank as a flayed monstrosity. We eventually learn that before marrying Larry, Julia had an affair with Frank, and when she encounters the undead creature he had become, she helps him ensnare victims to feed upon. The two then even turn on Larry, with Frank stealing his skin to wear. Kirsty manages to see through it, however, and uses the puzzle box to summon the Cenobites, who drag Frank back to Hell.

Although defeated, Pinhead is not destroyed. Instead, the formidable demon is trapped in the Pillar of Souls, along with the Lament Configuration. As shown in "Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth," nightclub owner J.P. Monroe purchases the pillar for decoration, only to discover that it's possessed by the imprisoned lord of the Cenobites. After feasting on a couple victims, including Monroe, Pinhead gathers the strength to destroy the pillar and free himself.

In the meantime, television reporter Joey Summerskill is investigating the story about Lemarchand's box when she's visited by the ghost of Elliot Spencer in a dream. The specter explains that whereas there used to be a sense of order to Pinhead's sadistic brutality, the Cenobite has become a creature of pure chaos and will continue to slaughter unless stopped.

Pinhead then savagely rampages through the nightclub, slaughtering all the innocent people within and creating new Cenobite followers. With the help of the spiritual form of Spencer, Joey uses the puzzle box to defeat Pinhead and send him back to Hell. She then hides the extremely dangerous device in the cement foundation of a building — a structure that once built, reveals design elements inspired by the Lament Configuration.

As shown in "Hellraiser IV: Bloodline," John Merchant, the descendant of Philip Lemarchand, designed the building constructed after Joey Summerskill put the Lament Configuration in its foundation. Later, in 1996, the demon princess Angelique discovers his existence, finding the box beneath the structure and summoning Pinhead from Hell.

Angelique meets with John, who has no idea what she truly is. He revealed to her that he's been working on a complex machine that uses lasers and mirrors to create perpetual light, called the Elysium Configuration. Upon learning about the device, Pinhead wants John to use it to keep the portal to Hell open for eternity. "The box, once thought so powerful, is only a model," the demon lord explains. "What you will give me is the true version. No longer will we have to seep into your world like pests through cracks in the baseboards. Once and for all, we will open the gates, lay low the ramparts."

However, John fails to make it work as Pinhead wants, so he is savagely decapitated. But before the Cenobite master and the demon princess can cause any more bloodshed, John's wife Bobbi uses the puzzle box to send the devilish fiends and their minions back to Hell.

In "Hellraiser: Hellseeker," Kirsty Cotton has moved on from the traumatic events of the first two films. She's been married to Trevor Gooden for five years, when the couple are in an accident that plunges their car into a river. Trevor is left unable to remember much of his life before the harrowing experience, aside from the fact that Kirsty was with him and was killed in the accident.

Gradually, through interactions with his previous acquaintances, Trevor not only remembers the affairs he had with three different women, but also that he had conspired with a coworker to murder Kirsty in order to inherit both Larry and Frank's wealth. One by one, people connected to Trevor start dying violently.

Trevor then remembers that he attempted to get rid of Kirsty by giving her Lemarchand's box in the hope that Pinhead would finally drag her into Hell. However, Kirsty has cleverly saved her own soul once again. To satiate the Cenobite lord, the heroine has made a deal with him, exchanging her one soul for five, which included her evil husband, his accomplice, and the three adulterous women. Like detective Joseph Thorne before him, Trevor had no idea he was already in Hell, put there after his wife shot him before the car accident and walked away unscathed.

Elsewhere in the world, Cenobite fandom has gone mainstream with the release of the "Hellworld" video game. No one knows it was based on reality in any way, but the popular game has attracted many addicted fans. In "Hellraiser: Hellworld," a group of friends play together until one of them, Adam, mysteriously commits suicide.

Two years later, Adam's father is still livid over his son's death, blaming everyone other than himself. Through his twisted logic, he has determined that his son's friends were at fault, and  he's devised a plan to get revenge. Using the game they all loved to trick them, the vengeful father manipulates the group into attending a private Hellworld party held in a mansion. Once he has ensnared them within his trap, the host drugs the friends and buries them alive, forcing them to hallucinate their own violent deaths as the extreme stress causes their bodies to fail. 

From beyond the grave, Adam manages to alert the authorities and save two of his friends, Chelsea and Jake. Meanwhile, Adam's dad has discovered the Lament Configuration among his son's belongings, realizing the game was never fiction in the worst way possible as he's cut to pieces. 

In modern times, it's become a major problem for the Cenobite faction and the Stygian Inquisition of Hell that technology has given so many people the ability to satiate their dark desires through the internet. "Hellraiser: Judgement" begins with Pinhead and the Stygian Auditor working together to figure out how best to reap souls in the 21st century. 

Meanwhile, three detectives — brothers Sean and David Carter and Christine Egerton — are on the trail of a serial killer called the Preceptor who kills those who break the Ten Commandments. During the investigation, Sean is taken captive by the Inquisition, but the angel Jophiel forces the demons to let him go. It's later revealed that Sean is the Preceptor, and heaven has intervened on his behalf so that he may continue to terrify sinners. Furious over Jophiel's interference in his affairs, Pinhead not only makes sure Sean dies, but he also slays the angel as well. For these transgressions, God punishes the Cenobite master by turning him back into a mortal man with no more power.