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Timeline

Wicked Little Things (2006) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2006 · 94 mins · English
JustWatch #15,987 1
Directed by
J.S. Cardone
Starring
Chloë Grace Moretz, Ben Cross, Atanas Srebrev, Martin McDougall, Geoffrey Lewis, Velizar Binev

Karen, Sarah and Emma Tunney relocate to a quiet Pennsylvania town, unaware that a 1913 mine disaster buried dozens of children deep underground. The lost children are still alive beneath the town, and the newcomers soon confront their unsettling presence.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (12)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Wicked Little Things
  6. 6 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Wicked Little Things (2006)

Where can you watch Wicked Little Things? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on Amazon Prime Video, The CW and Amazon Prime Video Free: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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12 events in order · contains spoilers

Wicked Little Things Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of Wicked Little Things (2006) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. 1913 Carlton Mine Disaster

    The Carlton Mine owner uses immigrant child laborers during a shaft expansion. Mary is sent into a tunnel with dynamite to excavate a new shaft. The explosion buries her and several other children, sealing their fate and staining the mine's history with tragedy.

    When
    1913
    Where
    Carlton Mine, Carlton, Pennsylvania
  2. Move to the Carlton House

    In 1993, Karen Tunny and her daughters Sarah and Emma relocate to the husband’s childhood home near the now-abandoned Carlton mine. A local warns them to avoid the woods after dark. The house carries the weight of the tragedy and hints at a lingering, haunted history.

    When
    c. 1993
    Where
    Carlton mansion and nearby mine
  3. Roadside Omen and Near-Miss

    While driving, Karen nearly hits a man crossing the road. She then discovers what appears to be a broken jar of blood on the ground, a grim omen tied to the mine’s past. The encounter foreshadows the danger that surrounds the property.

    Where
    Road near Carlton estate
  4. Blood on the Door and Old Clippings

    The family arrives and finds blood on the front door. Karen uncovers old photographs of the child miners and newspaper clippings about the accident, anchoring the house to its buried victims. The past seems to reach into the present home.

    Where
    Carlton house
  5. Nightmare Vision

    That night, Karen dreams of a child with a pickaxe entering the home and attacking her. She wakes to find the door open with fresh blood and spots a man crossing the property again. The dream blurs the line between memory and haunting.

    Where
    Carlton house
  6. Plumber's Visit and Warning

    A plumber arrives to fix the pipes and explains that the victims were child miners. He is determined to leave before nightfall, fearing the house's cursed history. His warning foreshadows the danger that will follow.

    Where
    Carlton house
  7. Emma’s Giggling and the Mine

    Emma begins hearing giggling and ventures toward the old Carlton mine. She is found at the mine entrance, insisting she met a girl named Mary. The family begins to suspect Mary’s lingering presence in the mine.

    Where
    Old Carlton mine
  8. Hanks’ Warning and Carlton’s Expansion

    Hanks confronts Karen, admitting ties to the mine and warning them to keep to daylight hours. He explains that Mary has promised not to hurt Emma, but others may be at risk. He also reveals that William Carlton is buying up property around the mine.

    Where
    Carlton mansion
  9. The Lease of the House

    Karen learns that William Carlton holds the legal power over the property, claiming she does not own the house and that her 'miner’s lease' is illegal. He asserts control over the family’s fate.

    Where
    Carlton mansion
  10. Sarah's Night and the Teens’ Fate

    Sarah meets three other teenagers and begins hanging out with them. One night, two boys investigate after being spooked, and the child miners attack them, killing one and injuring the other; Sarah escapes back home, terrified, while Emma remains missing.

    Where
    Woods around Carlton
  11. Mine Confrontation and Escape

    The trio returns to the mine to search for Emma and is confronted by all the children. William Carlton tries to shoot them but fails; they flee toward Hanks’s house, pursued by the children.

    Where
    Carlton mine and surrounding property
  12. Final Showdown and Aftermath

    In a final showdown at Hanks’s barn, the children overwhelm William Carlton and kill him, and Emma emerges from the crowd, allowing the Tunny group to leave. The family decides to stay in the house but cannot sell it, and the town’s haunting persists, with Mary and her brother seen in the Tunny home.

    When
    Post-1993 onward
    Where
    Hanks' barn and Carlton property

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:32

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Timeline questions answered

Wicked Little Things Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of Wicked Little Things (2006): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why do the child miners target the Carlton family?

The child miners seek revenge on the Carlton bloodline because William Carlton's ancestor owned the Carlton Mine and deliberately used immigrant child labor for dangerous work. When the mine exploded, the children were buried alive as a direct result of this exploitation. The children spare Tunny family members because they were fellow miners who also suffered under the Carlton's greed, making the Tunnys allies rather than enemies.

Foreshadowing: Early scenes show Karen finding newspaper clippings about the mine disaster and child laborers.

  • child miners
  • carlton family
  • revenge
  • mine explosion
  • ghostly children
Q2

Why doesn't Mary hurt Emma?

Mary spares Emma and even befriends her because the Tunny family are blood relatives of the original miners. Aaron Hanks explains that the children spare those who share miner ancestry, specifically Mary Tunny and her brother, plus Hanks' own ancestors who were among the miners. The children can sense this lineage, allowing Emma to approach Mary without harm.

Foreshadowing: Emma hears giggling near the mine and meets Mary, who tells her she won't hurt Emma.

  • mary
  • emma
  • tunny family
  • spared
  • blood relatives
  • miners
Q3

What is the miner's lease that William Carlton mentions?

The miner's lease is a legal arrangement that gives a miner the right to live in a house provided by the mine owner. When Karen and her daughters move into the house, William Carlton reveals they don't actually own it, they're living on a miner's lease that was originally granted to Karen's husband. Since the lease belongs to him, William uses this to claim authority over the property and threaten to evict them.

Foreshadowing: The wary local warns them about the property, and William later confronts Karen about ownership.

  • miners lease
  • property
  • william carlton
  • ownership
  • house
Q5

Why does Emma become friends with Mary?

Emma becomes friends with Mary because she can see and hear the ghost girl, who approaches her without hostile intent. Mary chooses Emma as a friend partly because Emma is a descendant of the miners, making her one of the children’s allies. Their friendship deepens throughout the film, with Mary giving Emma a coal-blackened doll and ultimately allowing Emma's family to escape at the end.

Foreshadowing: Emma hears giggling near the mine on her first day and disappears to meet Mary.

  • emma
  • mary
  • friendship
  • ghostly child
  • doll
Q6

Why do the children spare the Tunny family but kill others?

The children spare the Tunny family because they are blood relatives of the miners who died in the 1913 explosion. Aaron Hanks explains that the children can distinguish between those who share miner blood and those who don't. While they hunt down William Carlton, the last descendant of the mine owner who exploited them, they allow the Tunnys to live because their ancestors were victims, not perpetrators.

Foreshadowing: Hanks tells Karen that Mary has promised not to hurt Emma.

  • tunny family
  • spared
  • miners
  • blood relatives
  • ghostly children
Q7

Why does William Carlton die at the end?

William Carlton dies because he is the last surviving member of the family that owned and operated the Carlton Mine. The vengeful children have spent decades targeting the Carlton bloodline for the child labor and unsafe conditions that killed them. When William tries to shoot the apparitions, his bullets go astray, and the children overwhelm him in the barn, killing him as retribution for his ancestor's crimes.

Foreshadowing: William warns the family not to stay and asserts his control over the property throughout the film.

  • william carlton
  • death
  • carlton family
  • revenge
  • mine owner
Q8

Why does the house transfer to the Tunny family after William's death?

After William Carlton dies, the house somehow transfers to the Tunny family. This likely occurs because William held the property through the miner's lease system, and with his death, the lease reverts to the original miner's descendants, the Tunny family. The film suggests this transfer is automatic, leaving the family with the house they can neither fully own nor sell.

Foreshadowing: William repeatedly claims the house belongs to him through the lease.

  • house transfer
  • tunny family
  • property
  • lease
  • ownership
Q9

Why are the child miners seeking revenge?

The child miners seek revenge because they were deliberately sent into dangerous tunnels by the mine owner to plant dynamite, resulting in their deaths. Their spirits remain trapped underground, driven by anger at the exploitation and neglect that caused their deaths. The 1913 disaster was not an accident but a consequence of using child labor for profit, making their vendetta against the Carlton family a centuries-long pursuit of justice.

Foreshadowing: The 1913 timeline shows Mary being sent with dynamite, revealing the intentional risk.

  • revenge
  • child labor
  • mine explosion
  • ghostly children
  • justice
Q10

Why is the plumber killed by the children?

The plumber is killed because he is not related to the Tunny miners, he's an outsider who entered the haunted territory after dark. While the children spare those with miner blood, they attack anyone else who ventures near the mine at night. The plumber's warning about leaving before dark suggests he understood the danger but couldn't escape it in time.

Foreshadowing: The plumber refuses to stay overnight and insists on leaving before sunset.

  • plumber
  • killed
  • ghostly children
  • outsider
  • warning
Q11

Why are Sarah's friends attacked in the woods?

Sarah's teenage friends are attacked in the woods because they stumble upon the child miners' territory at night. Unlike the Tunny family, these teens have no blood connection to the miners, making them targets. The children kill one boy and injure another, while Sarah escapes due to her Tunny lineage. This incident demonstrates that anyone without miner ancestry who enters the children's domain becomes a victim.

Foreshadowing: The local warned the family to avoid the woods after dark.

  • sarah
  • teenage friends
  • attacked
  • woods
  • ghostly children
Q12

Why does Emma emerge from the crowd of children at the end?

Emma emerges from the crowd of children at the end because she has formed a genuine connection with Mary throughout the film. This bond gives her some influence over the spirits, Mary allows Emma to decide whether the Tunny family lives or dies. Emma chooses to let her family and Hanks escape, demonstrating that the children's vengeance is selective and that relationship with a descendant of miners grants special consideration.

Foreshadowing: Mary befriends Emma from the start and promises not to hurt her.

  • emma
  • mary
  • crowd
  • escape
  • emerge
  • final scene

Movie threads

More Movies Like Wicked Little Things, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Wicked Little Things tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies about historical hauntings like Wicked Little Things

Tragedies of the past violently bleed into the lives of the present. If you liked the premise of Wicked Little Things, where a past disaster creates a supernatural threat, you'll find similar stories here. This collection features horror movies where ghosts and monsters are born from specific historical tragedies, linking personal terror to a broader, often forgotten, societal trauma.

  • haunting
  • historical
  • vengeful
  • unsettling
  • somber
  • claustrophobic
  • Tone: dark, somber, unsettling
  • Pacing: steady, investigative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Movies in this thread typically follow a discovery pattern: new inhabitants or investigators arrive at a location, slowly uncover a historical atrocity (like a mining disaster, massacre, or injustice), and find themselves targeted by the lingering, vengeful spirits connected to that event. The climax often involves confronting or resolving the historical grievance rather than simply destroying a monster.

Why they belong together: They are grouped by their shared core concept: the supernatural threat is a direct and specific consequence of a real-world historical event. This creates a unique sense of dread that feels grounded and morally complex, blending the terror of a ghost story with the weight of a historical drama.

Family survival horror movies like Wicked Little Things

A new home becomes a prison as a family confronts a terrifying inheritance. For viewers who enjoyed the family-in-peril dynamic of Wicked Little Things, this list features films where a core family must band together to survive a supernatural threat tied to their new home or lineage. These stories emphasize the bonds and fractures of family under extreme, otherworldly pressure.

  • claustrophobic
  • anxious
  • family in peril
  • oppressive
  • gloomy
  • child endangerment
  • Tone: dark, anxious, oppressive
  • Pacing: steady, escalating dread
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative follows a family as they are gradually isolated and besieged by a supernatural force connected to their new environment. The horror tests familial bonds, often revealing secrets or strengths. Endings are frequently bittersweet; survival may be achieved, but it comes at a cost, and the haunting presence is often integrated into their lives rather than fully vanquished.

Why they belong together: These films share a specific dynamic: the protagonists are a family unit, and the horror is directly tied to their domestic space or lineage. This creates a potent mix of supernatural fear and domestic intrusion, where the safety of 'home' is completely subverted.

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Movies Like Wicked Little Things

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Every angle

Wicked Little Things (2006) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

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