Based on Say Cheese and Die!, book #4 of the original Goosebumps series.
Greg Banks and his friends enter an old, abandoned house and find a camera with the power to cause bad luck for them whenever it takes a photo.
It was followed by the sequel episode "Say Cheese and Die — Again!".
The episode provides examples of:
- Adaptational Context Change: In the book, Shari disappeared soon after her photo was taken. Here, Greg only learns of her disappearance later that night.
- Adaptational Heroism: Greg Banks and Shari Walker come off a bit more likable and heroic than their book counterparts, Greg particularly. For example, in the book, he takes the camera back to the abandoned house he found it, all but dragging his friend Shari with him, whereas in the television version he initially goes by himself, believing wrongly that Spidey is holding Shari prisoner there in exchange for the camera, and gets joined by Shari who voluntarily accompanies him. Also, Greg gets to fight back more enthusiastically in the TV version than his counterpart, while Shari snaps Spidey's picture on purpose instead of by accident.
- Adapted Out: Michael does not appear in the show, which gives his part to Bird instead.
- And I Must Scream: Spidey gets trapped inside his own camera, until two bullies accidentally set him free.
- Composite Character: Because Michael was cut from the story, Bird takes does all the things Micheal did in the book.
- Girls With Mustaches: The female detective who questions Greg after Shari's disappearance has a small mustache, not that it gets pointed out. Funnily, her male partner is clean shaven.
- Plaster Cast Doodling: Greg's dad got into a car accident which is caused by a cursed camera that can predict the future. His family visited him in the hospital and wrote messages on his leg cast.
- Spared by the Adaptation: Spidey gets killed by the camera in the book. In the TV episode, he becomes trapped in the camera and eventually released by the two bullies whom picked on Greg and Bird, but strangely doesn't appear in the TV episode of "Say Cheese and Die — Again!" (except in flashback).
- Uncertain Doom: Not for Greg and Shari who safely escape Spidey, but the two bullies who were harassing Greg earlier. The episode ends with them finding the camera in Spidey's warehouse and taking a picture with it, unknowingly setting Spidey free after Shari trapped him. The closing shot is him rising ominously behind them, with a sinister look on his face. He was ready to attack Greg and Shari for using the camera, so that doesn't bode well for the two delinquents.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: After Spidey's released from the camera, we're never told what happens to him. Even in the episode adaptation of "Say Cheese and Die — Again!", he's only seen in a flashback.
