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.
Blurb
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?
Plot
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Reprints and rereleases
Differences
- The Classic Goosebumps reprint was released as a tie-in to the eight Goosebumps HorrorLand book, Say Cheese — and Die Screaming!. It also contains a bonus section titled 'Fright Gallery', which contains a bio on the camera, its origins, special powers, weaknesses, as well as its 'Splat Stats', which are as follows: Strength 8/10 Intelligence: 3/10 Speed: 2/10 Attack Skills: 7/10 Humor: 1/10 Evil: 10/10
- The page count for the 2015 Retro Collector's Tin reprint raises from 132 to 136 pages.
International releases
Title: Say Cheese and Die !
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Release date: September 17, 1993
Publisher: Scholastic
Title: Dangereuses Photos
Translated title: Dangerous Pictures
Illustrator: Jean-Michel Nicollet
Country: France
Language: French
Release date: March 23, 1995
Publisher: Bayard Poche
Translated title: Evil Pictures
Illustrators: Servane Altermatt, Paul-Émile Boucher
Country: France
Language: French
Reprint ver.: 6
Release date: 2023
Title: La Sonrisa de la Muerte
Translated title: The Smile of Death
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish
Release date: October 1, 1995
Publisher: Ediciones B
Title: Edición Monstruo 2
Translated title: Monster Edition 2
Bundled with: Welcome to Dead House
Stay Out of the Basement
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish
Release date: 1996
Publisher: Ediciones B
Title: Foto dal Futuro
Translated title: Pictures from the Future
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Release date: July 5, 1994
Publisher: Mondadori
Translated title: Deadly Shots
Compilation with: Say Cheese and Die — Again!, The Cuckoo Clock of Doom
Country: Italy
Language: Italian
Reprint ver.: 2
Release date: June 14, 2011
Title: Die Unheimliche Kamera
Translated title: The Spooky Camera
Country: Germany
Language: German
Release date: November 30, 1997
Publisher: Omnibus Verlag
Title: O Sorriso da Morte
Translated title: The Smile of Death
Country: Portugal
Language: Portuguese
Release date: 1997
Publisher: Abril
Title: El Somriure de la Mort
Translated title: The Smile of Death
Country: Catalonia
Language: Catalan
Release date: April 1, 1996
Publisher: Ediciones B
Title: Οι Καταραμένες Φωτογραφίες
Translated title: The Cursed Photos
Country: Greece
Language: Greek
Release date: 1995
Publisher: Κέδρος
Title: Smil til Døden
Translated title: Smile to the Death
Country: Norway
Language: Norwegian
Release date: 1995
Publisher: Ex Libris forl.
Title: Det Onda ögat
Translated title: The Evil Eye
Country: Sweden
Language: Swedish
Release date: November 1, 1995
Publisher: Ritchers
Title: Sig Appelsin og Dø!
Translated title: Say Orange and Die!
Country: Denmark
Language: Danish
Release date: March 4, 1999
Publisher: Borgen
Title: De Toekomst in Beeld
Translated title: The Future in Pictures
Country: Netherlands
Language: Dutch
Release date: July 1, 1994
Publisher: Kluitman Alkmaar BV
Title: Kamala Kamera
Translated title: Terrible Camera
Country: Finland
Language: Finnish
Release date: 1994
Publisher: Karisto
Title: Zâmbește Și Mori!
Translated title: Smile And Die!
Country: Romania
Language: Romanian
Release date: January 1, 2003
Publisher: Editura Rao
Title: Кажи "Зе-е-ле-е" и... умри!
Translated title: Say "Ze-e-le-e" and... Die!
Country: Bulgaria
Language: Bulgarian
Release date: 2008
Publisher: New Impress Agency
Title: Úsměv, Prosím... Přichází Zlo!
Translated title: Smile, Please...Here Comes Evil!
Country: Czech Republic
Language: Czech
Release date: January 1, 2005
Publisher: Fragment
Title: Смертельное фото
Translated title: Death Photo
Country: Russia
Language: Russian
Release date: 1999
Publisher: Rosman
Title: ¡Sonríe y Muérete!
Translated title: Smile and Die!
Country: Mexico
Language: Spanish
Release date: January 1, 1996
Publisher: Scholastic
Language: Spanish
Reprint ver.: 2
Release date: April 1, 2004
Publisher: Scholastic en Español
Title: ¡Sonríe y Muérete!
Translated title: Smile and Die!
Country: Mexico
Language: Spanish
Release date: 1995
Publisher: Norma
Title: D'Étranges Photos
Translated title: Strange Pictures
Country: Canada
Language: French
Release date: 1993
Publisher: Héritage
Title: Sorria e Morra
Translated title: Smile and Die
Country: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
Release date: January 1, 2008
Publisher: Fundamento
Title: Sorria e Morra
Translated title: Smile and Die
Country: Brazil
Language: Portuguese
Release date: November 17, 1999
Publisher: Abril
Title: الكاميرة الملعونو
Translated title: The Cursed Camera
Country: Egypt
Language: Arabic
Release date: January 1, 1992
Publisher: Nahdet Misr Publishing House
Title: !חייך: מצלמה קטלנית
Translated title: Smile : Killer Camera!
Country: Isreal
Language: Hebrew
Release date: 1997
Publisher: Maariv Library
Title: بگو پنیر و بمیر
Translated title: Say Cheese and Die
Country: Iran
Language: Persian
Release date: 1992
Publisher: Peydayesh
Title: 倒楣照相機
Translated title: The Unlucky Camera
Country: China
Language: Simplified Chinese
Release date: 1995
Publisher: Shy Chaur Publishing
Title: 倒楣照相機
Translated title: The Unlucky Camera
Country: China
Language: Simplified Chinese
Release date: November 11, 2003
Publisher: Cite Publishing
Country: China
Language: Simplified Chinese
Reprint ver.: 2
Release date: April 30, 2016
Publisher: Shang Zhou Publishing
Title: 骷髅相机 · 夺命快照
Translated title: Skeleton Camera · Deadly Snapshots
Country: China
Language: Simplified Chinese
Release date: January 1, 2013
Publisher: Relay Press
Title: 呪われたカメラ
Translated title: Cursed Camera
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese
Release date: June 22, 2006
Publisher: Iwasaki Shoten
Title: 찰칵! 금지된 카메라
Translated title: Click! Forbidden Camera
Country: South Korea
Language: Korean
Release date: March 23, 2015
Publisher: Gorilla Box
Title: Say Cheese and Die!
Country: United Kingdom
Language: English
Release date: April 7, 2016
Publisher: Scholastic
Title: Unas Fotos de Muerte
Translated title: Some Pictures of Death
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish
Release date: May 2, 2016
Publisher: Hydra
Title: Unes Fotos Perilloses
Translated title: Some Dangerous Photos
Country: Catalonia
Language: Catalan
Release date: October 10, 2016
Publisher: Hidra
Title: Οι Καταραμένες Φωτογραφίες
Translated title: The Cursed Photos
Country: Greece
Language: Greek
Release date: January 21, 2015
Publisher: Κέδρος
Title: Smil til Døden
Translated title: Smile to the Death
Country: Norway
Language: Norwegian
Release date: 2023
Publisher: Cappelen Damm
Title: Sig appelsin og dø
Translated title: Say Orange and Die
Country: Denmark
Language: Danish
Release date: 2009
Publisher: Borgen
Differences
- In the UK, this is the second book in the original series.
- In France, this is the third book in the original series.
- Greg Banks is called "Alex Banks."
- Doug Arthur is called "Arthur Normann" and is nicknamed "Ouiseau," the French word for "Bird."
- Shari Walker is called "Sara Walker."
- In the French Canadian release, this is the third book in the original series.
- The original print features an error where Chapter 31 is also listed as Chapter 30.
- Greg Banks is called "Gregoire Brazeau".
- Shari is called "Marie Sauvageau".
- Bird is called "Didier Aubin", with his nickname changed to "Moineau", which translates to "Sparrow" in English.
- Michael is called "Michel Marchand".
- Terry Banks is called "Thierry Brazeau".
- Spidey is called "l'Araignée", which translates to "The Spider" in English. His real name of "Dr. Fritz Fredericks" is retained, but altered as "Dr. Fritz Frédéric" to fit the French translation.
- Pitts Landing is called "Verts Bocages", which translates to "Green Groves" in English.
- In the Dutch adaptation of the story there are some notable differences:
- Greg Banks is called "Sven Landman."
- Michael Warner is called "Kevin de Groot."
- Shari Walker is called "Denise de Waal."
- Doug Arthur is called "Jan Gerritsen," and his nickname is "Reiger," which translates to "Heron."
- Greg has a sister rather than a brother, and her name is "Fanny."
- The Coffman House is called the "Magister House."
- Spidey is called "Spinnekop." His real name is still the same.
- After getting home from the hospital, Greg tells Fanny about the camera and shows her the picture of the wrecked car. Knowing he couldn't have taken a picture of it, she's horrified to learn the truth. She begs Greg to throw the camera away, or better yet, take it back to "that insane Spidey." Greg tells her he will, but thinks to himself that he's too scared to go back alone.
- The ending is different. After Spidey is killed by the camera, Greg and Shari escape the house and inform the police like in the original. But rather than taking the camera back to the Coffman House, they decide to bury it somewhere, afraid that the police might find it. The twist ending is that a while later, a dog starts digging at that very spot. This ending would be in conflict with the second book, where Greg returns to the Coffman House to retrieve the camera. However, the second book was never adapted for a Dutch translation.
- In Israel, this is the twenty-second book in the original series.
Merchandise
Some apparel from the 1990s removed the word "Die", having the title instead read "Say Cheese And...". This was likely due to concerns with the word "Die" being used on kids apparel. This would be amended for apparel released in the 2000s and beyond.
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Adaptations
TV series
Say Cheese and Die! was adapted into an episode of the Goosebumps TV series. It is the fifteenth episode of season one. The exclamation mark is omitted from the original title. The episode has since gained notoriety for featuring a young Ryan Gosling as Greg.
Audiobook
Audiobook | Release date | Length | Narrated by | Published by |
---|---|---|---|---|
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August 2015 | 2 hours, 35 minutes | Johnny Heller | Scholastic Inc. |
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April 2022 | 2 hours, 37 minutes | Antonio Catalano | Mondadori Libri S.p.A. |
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2022 | 2 hours, 22 minutes | Unknown | Cappelen Damm |
Artwork
Conceptual
Trivia
- The scene where Greg dreams about his family becoming skeletons was added after the story was finished. Once Jacobus had illustrated the cover, Scholastic became concerned that it didn't match the story; Stine quickly added a scene where Greg tells Shari of a nightmare he had involving the scene depicted in the artwork so that the cover fit with the book.[1]
- This is the second book to feature a skeleton dream, after a nightmare from Amanda Benson in Welcome to Dead House. However, where Dead House's nightmare was more detailed, Greg only briefly mentions his nightmare after having it.
- Despite the bizarre coincidence, Tim Jacobus was not aware of the nightmare from Welcome to Dead House before illustrating this book's cover. Tim would not end up reading a Goosebumps book until a few years down the line.
- The original Tim Jacobus cover art features a young female skeleton at the picnic table, despite Greg not having any sisters mentioned in the book.
- While this was amended on the cover illustration for the sequel, Say Cheese and Die — Again!, early concept art also featured a female skeleton on that cover as well. It is possible that this is meant to be Terry, but Tim was unaware that Terry was male in the story.
- The book’s title made Jacobus realize the series was humor mixed with horror.
- This book references X-Force, Hungry Man TV Dinners, Popsicle and the Ford Taurus.
- This book is written in third person, a style that would eventually be phased out as the series progressed.
- The direct sequel, Say Cheese and Die — Again!, would be written in the first person.
- The plot of this book is similar to Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone television episode, A Most Unusual Camera. R.L. Stine was a big fan of the show and much of his work was inspired by Serling.
- Another likely inspiration for the story is the Stephen King novel, The Dead Zone, in which a man gains the power to see into the future.
- Joey and Mickey are never heard from again, and their status is left unknown in the sequel. Their picture surprisingly is also nowhere to be found, although it's likely they took the picture with them, and it was gruesome and nasty.
- The skeleton cook on the cover is often mistaken for Curly on several pieces of Goosebumps merchandise and even in the 1997 advertisement for the Goosebumps Fan Club.
- One of the most common pieces of Curly artwork for general merchandise features Curly holding a copy of Say Cheese and Die! which may have added to the confusion.
- According to the back cover of the Classic Goosebumps reprint, Say Cheese and Die! has sold nearly 2 million copies.
- Despite not being explicitly named, the description of the camera's design makes it out to be similar to that of a Polaroid brand camera.
- According to the Goosebumps Holiday Collector's Caps Book, Stine had finished the story before coming up with the title. He created a list of potential titles and added Say Cheese and Die! as a joke before ultimately choosing it as the final title.
- Early edition copies of this book do not feature a number on the spine.
- The earliest Goosebumps order form places the book third on the list, not the fourth.
- The nickname "Bird" would later be reused for Jonathan Sparrow in the Goosebumps Most Wanted book, Night of the Puppet People.
- Later copies of the book during its Nineties run would feature the Parachute Press logo on the front.
- On certain prints of the book, the red rectangle with the Scholastic logo on the bottom left corner of the front cover stretches across the spine and into back cover. This would be fixed with the Parachute Press reprint.
References in other Goosebumps media
- Although the Evil Camera doesn't appear in the Goosebumps film, the skeleton cook on the cover is featured in the end credits animation.
- The title of the book is also on one of R.L. Stine's manuscripts on his bookshelf.
- Mr. Chu references this book's title in Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween.
- The Camera appears as a usable item in Goosebumps: The Game.
- The in-game achievement "Say Cheese" is given if you take a photo with the haunted camera.
- There is a quest named after this book in Goosebumps HorrorTown, and Dr. Fritz Fredericks appears.
- The Camera is an item card in the Terror in the Graveyard board game.
- The title and main concept of Download and Die!, the second arc of the Goosebumps comic series, is an homage to this book.
- The skeleton chef is featured in the trailer for Slappy, Beware! promoting the 30th anniversary of Goosebumps.
- This book is one of three books featured in 2023's Goosebumps: The Game board game.