Say Cheese and Die!

is the fourth book in the original Goosebumps book series, and the first
book in the Say Cheese and Die! saga. It was first published in 1992. The book follows Greg
and his friends who discover a strange camera, and things get chaotic after he takes a lot of
pictures. It was later followed-up by the forty-fourth book, Say Cheese and Die — Again!.

The original 1992 cover illustration features a family of skeletons (presumably the Banks
family) having a picnic.

The 2009 Classic Goosebumps cover illustration shows the camera on the ground, with the
hand of a collapsed body beside it. A human skull's reflection can be seen inside the broken
lens.

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY...

Greg thinks there is something wrong with the old camera he and his friends found. The
photographs keep turning out wrong. Very wrong. Like the snapshot Greg took of his father's
new car that shows it totaled. And then Greg's father is in a nasty wreck. But Greg's friends
don't believe him. Shari even makes Greg bring the camera to her birthday party and take
her picture. Only Shari's not in the photograph when it develops. Is Shari about to be taken
out of the picture permanently? Who is going to take the next fall for... the evil camera?

(1)Four friends, Greg Banks, Shari Walker, Doug Arthur, and Michael Warner, wonder what
they should do during a boring fall day in their town, Pitts Landing. After several proposals,
the four agree to sneak into the mysterious Coffman House, an old dilapidated building that
is said to be haunted. The building is also home to a strange man nicknamed Spidey. While
exploring the basement, Greg finds a camera hidden inside a compartment in the wall. Greg
is interested in photography, so he picks up the camera. He asks Michael to pose for a
picture. Michael stands against a staircase railing. After Greg takes the picture, the camera
makes a whirring sound and a photo comes out of the front of the camera. Michael asks to
see it and leans against the railing. The railing breaks, and Michael falls to the ground,
hurting his ankle.

(2)Spidey enters the basement through the house. Scared, the kids leave through the back
exit. Greg takes Michael's photograph and the camera with him. When the group stops
running, they inspect Michael's photograph. To everyone's surprise, Michael's picture shows
him falling instead of leaning on the railing. Later that day, Greg takes multiple photographs
with the camera. First, he takes a photo of his father's new car, but the picture shows the
vehicle wrecked. Then, he takes a photo of his older brother, Terry, but the picture shows
him on a baseball field in a worried state.

(3)On Tuesday, Greg, Shari, and Michael go to Doug's baseball game. Before it starts, Greg
takes a photo. The picture shows his friend lying on the ground with his neck at an unnatural
angle. Doug refuses to believe that anything bad could happen to him. He assumes the
camera is broken. However, during the game, a baseball hits him, causing him to fall to the
ground. His neck bends to an unnatural angle, as the picture predicted. Greg is completely
sure that the camera is responsible for these events, but his friends refuse to believe him.
It's at this moment that the pictures of Terry and the new car come true; Terry appears on
the baseball field in a worried state. Terry tells Greg that their father has just suffered an
accident and that the car is completely totaled.

(4)That night, Greg has a nightmare where he takes a photo of his family during a barbecue,
but the picture shows them as living skeletons. Shari continues to be skeptical of the alleged
camera's "powers" and asks Greg to take it to her birthday. Initially, he refuses, but he
eventually takes the camera to the party. During the party, Greg takes a photo of Shari, but
the pictures doesn't show her. Soon after, Shari disappears mysteriously without a trace.

(5)After a few days, Greg and Bird begin fighting over the camera. Bird accidentally take's
Greg's photograph. The picture shows Greg with Shari being chased by a black shadow.
Although he is scared, Greg also feels hopeful because the picture shows Shari. Greg gets an
idea: to tear up Shari's picture. When he does this, she reappears, but she doesn't have any
memory of where she had been. While the kids talk, Spidey appears. He begins chasing in a
scenario similar to what the camera predicted. However, a neighbor sees the case and
threatens to call the police. Spidey runs away.

(6)Later, the kids decide that the camera is too dangerous; they resolve to return it to its
hiding place in the Coffman House. But, when Greg and Shari they enter the old house,
Spidey catches them and reveals the camera's origins. It turns out that Spidey's real name is
Dr. Fritz Fredericks, and he is a deranged scientist. His lab partner created the camera,
however, Spidey's greed led him to steal the piece of technology and present it as his own
invention. What he didn't know was that his partner also was a master of the dark arts. His
partner placed a curse on the camera. Now, whenever a photo is taken, something bad will
happen to the subject of the photo. Spidey mentions that the camera caused the death of
all of the people he ever loved. He spent his whole life trying to hide it. Now that the four
kids know the truth, Spidey believes that he must keep them prisoners in his house forever.

(7)Greg and Shari try to escape. During the struggle, Shari takes the camera from Spidey and
takes Spidey's photo with it. Spidey dies of fright, an event that the photograph seems to
depict. Finally, Greg and Shari return the camera to its hiding place and leave the building.
They tell the Pitts Landing police that they found Spidey's corpse in the house.

(8)Joey Ferris and Mickey Ward, two local bullies, had followed Greg and his friends to the
Coffman House. The bullies retrieve the camera, and they take their own photo. They wait
for their picture to develop.