Say Cheese and Die! (Goosebumps #4)

Fun book! Very quick read and R.L. Stine's suspenseful style and intriguing story. I really like seeing what dark turns come around at the end of the books, when you find out what was really happening and why. The lead up is fun and interesting. I'm happy with the series so far and I should be starting #5 very soon!

2019 Update:
After having read more Goosebumps books and revisited this one for Halloween reading, I think I find this one to be more of a 3 star. It is still fun and iconic, but it isn't where R. L. Stine really hit his stride. The cliffhanger chapters haven't reached their pinnacle and the pacing is a bit off on this one for me at this point. Still fun, but not to the level of other Goosebumps books I've read up to this point.

This is maybe the Goosebumpiest Goosebumps book so far. The concept is easily digestible, the cast is annoying and like twice as big as it needs to be… really the main thing holding this back from being the model example of a Goosebumps book is that quite a few of the chapters don’t end with ridiculous fakeout scares!

The overall idea of the camera that shows the future is one I’ve encountered in creepy scifi movies before, and it’s a decent concept and I actually think it’s executed super well here. The entire framing is very pulpy and Goosebumpsy, which makes it a lot more interesting to me than it would be otherwise.

Oh, one more thing. This family gets way too excited about their dad buying a Ford Taurus I think it was? show more Like, they’re acting like he got a sports car or something. It’s so weird, especially since R.L. Stein goes to the trouble of telling you exactly what kind of car it is like it’s a big deal. Just bizarre. show less

When Greg and his friends find an old camera, they get more than just pictures—each snapshot predicts tragic events before they happen. What begins as eerie coincidence spirals into frightening fate as the camera's cursed power takes control. R. L. Stine delivers a chilling tale blending supernatural horror with everyday teenage anxieties. Say Cheese and Die! keeps readers on edge with its clever premise and creepy visual suspense—classic Goosebumps thrills.

Who doesn't love a good throwback? Especially one from the master, R.L. Stine.

I loved Goosebumps as a kid and I still love them now. They are the ultimate throwback and totally brightens my day. Sure, these books don't scare as good as they used to but I still love the thrills along the way.

Greg and his buddies, Bird, Michael and Shari, find a magical camera. Except, this camera isn't the good kind of magic - it's the evil kind. When they take pictures with it, the developed pictures show evil, horrible, no good things. Crashed cars and scary scenes, and the worst part? They all become real. Suddenly Greg and his friends need to find a way to save the city and themselves from this potential disaster.

A while back I watched the first show more season of the television series and specifically watched this episode (Baby Ryan Gosling folks!) and it does not equate to this book. The book is way, way, way better and the show doesn't do it justice. I'm glad I read this book after to see how great it actually was! Don't judge the book by the television episode.

I don't think this book will hold up as well, mostly because it involves a Polaroid camera. I think only the hipster kids will have any idea what it is. Either way, these middle grade novels are the best for introducing kids and readers to horror. It's super fun and spooky, but not absolutely horrifying. Along the way I was chuckling at all of the thrills, knowing full well as a kid I would have been shaking in my boots.

The ending happened very quickly and suddenly, speeding up like a really fast car. I enjoyed it, but some readers may not.

This is definitely one of the better ones in the Goosebumps collection, so if you're looking for fun horror or a good old fashioned throwback, grab this book! It's a real delight!

Four out of five stars! show less

## One picture worth a thousand screams

Greg and his friends while away the summer hours by breaking into the local spook-house and stealing a bizarre camera. In Stine's beloved Twilight Zone spin, the camera forecasts the future: Any photo it spits out shows the subject befalling tragedy. It starts innocently -- a friend is seen falling down the stairs, and he does -- but the risks of the camera ramp up quickly. Another friend nearly breaks their neck; Greg's dad nearly dies in a horrific car accident; Greg's closest friend goes missing, and stays missing for days. When she returns, she has no memory of where she was.

[N.B. This review includes images, and was formatted for my site, dendrobibliography -- located here.]

The camera belonged show more to a creepy old squatter named 'Spidey,' a mad scientist (in the long line of mad scientists Stine used to explain evil...) who lost everyone he ever cared about to the camera's powers, and was attempting to keep it hidden at his own expense. The camera is imbued not just with scientific progress, but a dark magic curse to be unbreakable and hurt any subject it photographs. It's this explanation -- magic, science, woo-woo, whatever -- that loses me a bit (as well as the ridiculous appearance of both Spidey and the camera itself in the TV adaption...which features a young Ryan Gosling...). It would have been more spooky and more Twilight Zone without the corny explanation. (The poorly-named sequel, Say Cheese and Die -- Again!, tells a similar story without the magic explanation.)

For Greg and his friends, they struggle to rid themselves of the camera without running into Spidey, who at this point is threatening their lives to keep his secret buried. Knowledge of the camera is spreading among their friends, and since no one believes the crazy story, gorier and gorier photos are being taken. It ends up getting more violent than spooky (also featuring one of the series' only witnessed deaths), which is rare within Goosebumps' record of keeping horror safe. It's an alright entry, but only that, hurt more for being so early in the series. Tim Jacobus' wonderful cover is the best part of it.

R.L. Stine's Goosebumps (1992–1997):
#3 Monster Blood | #5 The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb show less

Say Cheese and Die is the fourth book in the Goosebumps series and in this volume we meet four friends who live in Pitts Landing (Greg, Shari, Michael, and Doug) and as we join them they are hanging out in a driveway lamenting how lame (and incredibly boring) Pitts Landing is...as they wander down the street desperately trying to come up with something interesting to do...when they encounter the old Coffman house and decide that the best way to beat the days doldrums is to sneak into to this creepy and abandoned house and have a look around and that's when all the trouble starts.

Down in the basement they discover that Spider (a creepy homeless guy known around town for dressing all in black) is living there and Greg makes an extra show more special discovery...a hidden cabinet and a camera. When Spider unexpectedly crashes their little adventure the foursome scram out of there with the camera. Greg and gang figure finders-keepers...but there's something not quite right about the camera...every picture that Greg takes with it comes out wrong. It isn't until later that the group begins to discover just exactly how special the camera is and exactly what horrible fate is in store for them as a result of using it. Will they be able to right what is wrong? What will Spider do to them? You'll have to read to find out!

Overall I liked Say Cheese and Die, though it suffers from the same drawbacks that other books in this series suffer. The stories are so short that characterization is all but nonexistent and the build up happens really, really fast. I suppose that this is good, considering the age range for the stories and the ending does have the characteristic twist that Stein seems to strive for in all of his works. I give it a B+. show less

[b: Say Cheese and Die!|125662|Say Cheese and Die! (Goosebumps, #4)|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1328867794s/125662.jpg|121027] has the benefit of featuring one of the most idiotic protagonists of any of [a: R.L. Stine|13730|R.L. Stine|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1194380070p2/13730.jpg]'s books. While the actual premise of the book itself was rather entertaining (the idea that a camera could take photos of the future and/or cause bad things to happen in the future) the execution of it left rather a lot to be wanting. In fact, the actual origin of the camera and way that it works - which the characters wonder about for the bulk of the book - is never adequately revealed.

Greg, the main character, was just too show more massive an imbecile for me to fully enjoy this romp. He spends so much of the book trying to convince himself the camera isn't 'evil' or supernatural at all, but rather simply broken. Because, you know, a broken camera makes people look like they're dead, cars look like they've been totaled, etc. He refuses to do anything to really solve the mystery and is just such a...non-mover.

Whatever, the book was still OK but it wasn't one of the stronger Goosebump titles in my opinion. show less