Goosebumps – Say Cheese and Die Again! by R. L. Stine is a sequel to the original Say Cheese and Die with all four of the characters returning. The worst invention ever lives, is the camera that makes bad things happen. The camera is the best part and it stinks that in the story it takes 30% of the book for Greg to get it again. The first Say Cheese and Die was all about the kids not believing or finding out that the camera is evil, in this story they know it is evil, and is almost a treat to take someone’s picture since they all know something bad will happen as does the reader. I wish the story could have leaned into the revenge aspect of the story since that was the best part of the story. Oh, you accidentally took a photo of me lets take a photo of you. The pace is slow at first until the camera is found. The reason to get the camera again could have been better but it worked. Only 5 photos are taken with the camera and I wanted to see more. The final twist was good since we know and can imagine what the consequences will be. Say Cheese and Die Again! is one of the seven Goosebumps books to get a sequel from the original series. Say Cheese and Die – Again! is Goosebumps book 44 in the original series. The one really big throwback from the 1990s is the photo development store, which might need to be explained to current readers what that place is and what they did. I will give props to Stine for never saying the word “fat” and instead of using big and having the kids not make too much fun. The real moments of horror are the unknown of what the camera is going to do, the skin peeling off and the nail through the foot were just gross. Some elements of this book Say Cheese and Die -Again! were added to the new Goosebumps 2023 TV series like the camera surviving after the house was leveled and using the camera as a weapon. Say Cheese and Die Again was published on June 1, 1996 by Scholastic.

Plot Summary: Greg is back and he’s telling all about his adventures with the evil camera that happened last in an oral report, but he’s given an “F” since the story was supposed to be true and his teacher doesn’t believe him. Greg realizes the only way to prove that everything he said was true is to find the evil camera and show the teacher what it can do. Things don’t go as planned as the camera accidentally goes off a couple of times, and someone takes it and uses it against Greg.

What I Liked: I love the revenge angle to the story where one of his friends uses it on Greg who accidentally took a photo of them. I liked Greg trying to use it as revenge on the teacher. The nail through the foot was a surprise in a Goosebumps book but it was effective in showing the danger of the camera, and it is fitting since the Goosebumps show has a broken arm showing bone. Stine borrows from Stephen King a lot and I always make a point to make that connection with this book mirroring Richard Bachman’s AKA Stephen King’s novel Thinner. I liked the final twist and what it means for the characters. I like how the phrase “Say Cheese and Die” is worked into the story. I liked the cover even if it has nothing to do with the story, there’s a skeleton dog, but there’s no dog in the story.

What I Disliked: Bird was my favorite character from the first book and is hardly used. It took Greg too long to find the camera. The subplot about the boy trying to find the camera after Greg took it from the trash was not needed. And why is this character walking around by himself days after having a nail go through his foot?

Recommendation: The book as a whole was not as good as the first one but some good moments exceeded the first one. I think fans of the first Say Cheese and Die book will enjoy returning to the camera from hell. I will recommend my readers to check this one out.

Rating: I rated Say Cheese and Die – Again! by R. L. Stine 3 out of 5 stars.

Ranking: Here’s my full ranking of the 44 Goosebumps books that I have read in order from my favorite to least favorite: 1) A Night in Terror Tower, 2) Stay Out of the Basement, 3) The Headless Ghost, 4) Ghost Beach, 5) Piano Lessons Can Be Murder, 6) The Haunted Mask, 7) The Horror at Camp Jellyjam, 8) One Day At Horrorland, 9) Night of the Living Dummy, 10) Welcome to Camp Nightmare, 11) A Shocker on Shock Street, 12)The Phantom of the Auditorium, 13) It Came From Beneath the Sink, 14) The Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, 15) Say Cheese and Die, 16) Let’s Get Invisible, 17) The Scarecrow Walks at Midnight, 18) Welcome to Dead House, 19) Monster Blood II, 20) The Beast From the East, 21) The Girl who Cried Monster, 22)Deep Trouble, 23) The Ghost Next Door, 24) Say Cheese and Die – Again! 25) Night of the Living Dummy 2, 26) My Hairiest Adventure, 27) Be Careful What You Wish For…, 28) Return of the Mummy, 29) Why I’m Afraid of Bees, 30) The Haunted Mask II, 31)How I Got My Shrunken Head, 32) Attack of the Mutant, 33) Go Eat Worms!, 34) Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes, 35) The Werewolf of Fever Swamp, 36) Bad Hare Day, 37) Cuckoo Clock of Doom, 38) Monster Blood, 39)Night of the Living Dummy III, 40) The Barking Ghost, 41) Egg Monsters from Mars, 42) The Abominable Snowman of Pasadena, 43) You Can’t Scare Me!, and 44) Monster Blood III.