The first moving picture, which depicted a horse running at full gallop, was quickly enhanced by the first special effects, which showed a horse exploding next to a 3-D spaceship. Enjoy advances in film with today’s Groupon: for $3, you get two tickets to A Reel-ly Scary Cary Halloween Movie Series at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary (a $6 value). Choose from the following shows:

• The Haunting on Tuesday, October 25
• Misery on Wednesday October 26
• The Haunted Mansion on Thursday, October 27
• The Blair Witch Project on Friday, October 28
• A double feature of Scream and Scary Movie on Saturday, October 29
  
  

Kids younger than 12 are free, but please be advised that some movies may not be suitable for children. Gates open at 6 p.m. with films beginning at dusk.

Beneath the stars and towering pines, the outdoor Koka Booth Amphitheatre lights up the night with celluloid projections from six creature features during A Reel-ly Scary Cary Halloween Movie Series. Koka Booth Amphitheatre will kick off the thrill fest with the 1963 classic The Haunting. The following night, Stephen King’s Misery unnerves viewers and aspiring James Caan impersonators with Kathy Bates’s Oscar-winning performance as an over-obsessed book lover before night three entertains the whole family with Disney’s The Haunted Mansion. Otherwise, Friday night’s showing of The Blair Witch Project shares a documentary-style account of three teens as they search for a mythical sorceress and her gingerbread house, and Saturday’s double feature couples Scream, Wes Craven’s homage to slasher movies, with its parody, Scary Movie.

Although not included with this Groupon, food vendors at Koka Booth Amphitheatre dish up classic movie snacks, including popcorn ($4), giant pretzels ($4), and free-range cartoon concessions raised on a farm where they danced and sang movie instructions in a cruelty-free environment. Otherwise, patrons may opt to satisfy their hunger with a home-brought picnic spread.