Welcome to the first annual—perhaps the only—Pepper Bough Halloween Movie Tournament!

Over the next nine school days, you will have the opportunity to vote for your favorite horror movies from this century, with the champion being crowned on none other than Halloween night.

The game is simple. Like any tournament, we have set up brackets in which horror movies can square off against each other in individual matchups. On each entry, there will be a poll for you to vote for your favorite of the two. The winner will move on to the next round.

Today’s first round match-up is . . .

2. Let the Right One In vs. 7. Hush

Our staff has put together some defense for each film. Take a look, then make your vote!

Imagine your first crush and only friend revealing a secret, but not just any secret . . . your friend reveals they are a vampire. The bond between a vampire and a tween boy is exactly what “Let the Right One In” is about, but what makes this movie a horror film? Well the bond between the two main characters Oskar and Eli is exactly what makes the movie so terrifying. There’s just an off feeling you get when you watch them together, especially considering that Eli almost kills Oskar in a desperate attempt to get blood. Despite the film being a love story, it’s very gruesome, showing dead bodies and their limbs as well.

“Hush” is the unsettling horror movie that uses sounds to its advantage better than “A Quiet Place.” Imagine if you lived in the middle of the woods alone, were deaf, and a stalker was following you! Through the whole film we see that the main character Maddie is stalked through the use of jumpscares and creative sound design. Director Mike Flanagan makes you feel like you’re deaf as you scream at the screen while Maddie’s predator just stares at her from the background behind windows. The stalker, just The Man, tortures Maddie and kills the people that are in her life. It is worth the watch as a goosebumps giving and screen screaming film.