The new Paramount+ Series, School Spirits is based on the upcoming Graphic Novel by Nate & Megan Trinrud and Maria Nguyen. The series and novel focus on a young woman named Maddie who is stuck in the afterlife…in High School!

However, Maddie’s death is different than the other ghost students. She can’t remember exactly how she died. So, she and her new ghost student friends decide to investigate the mystery behind her disappearance. They have to figure out what exactly happened to her. 

SCHOOL SPIRITS IS A REALLY FUN

I love a good whodunit, and School Spirits keeps you guessing the entire way through. In the three episodes, Paramout+ gave us to watch I found myself getting invested in every character we’ve met so far. 

Cobra Kai’s Peyton List plays Maddie. Maddie has a troubled past, a dirtbag boyfriend, Xavier (Spencer MacPherson), as well as a best guy friend, Simon (Kristian Flores). Per, YA usual, Simon is not so secretly in love with her. She was always pretty quiet and kept to herself. So, her disappearance is a shock to the entire student body. 

However, while the livings are fun I enjoy her fellow ghost friends even more. I love that the ghost ins the school are from different decades. It brings a dynamic we don’t get to see in most Young Adult focused series. 

GREAT CHARACTERS

Episode 101 “My So-Called Death”, Pictured, L-R: Xavier Baxter (Spencer McPherson), Maddie Nears (Peyton List), Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin), Claire Zolinski (Rainbow Wedell), Wally Clark (Milo Manheim), Charley (Nick Pugliese), Simon Elroy (Kristian Flores) and Nicole Herrera (Kiara Pichardo) in SCHOOL SPIRITS on PARAMOUNT+. Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/Paramount+. ©2022 Paramount Global, INC. All Rights Reserved.

In School Spirits, Milo Manheim (Zombies) brings great comic relief as the doofus jock, Wally. Sarah Yarkin (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) brings the cynicism I’d personally feel if I was stuck in high school for all eternity. Then, Nick Pugliese plays Charley, a young gay man of the 90s who gets to see the changes that happen over the decades with the LGBTQ+ community. 

I love seeing the different dynamics with this friend group throughout the episodes. Each one brings a different perspective on the living and ghost worlds that’s desperately needed to help Maddie navigate her landscape. 

I wish I was given more episodes to watch. I can say that these first few episodes of School Spirits have me hooked! I’m in love with the story, the characters, and all the red herrings being thrown my way. 

Once I think I know what’s going on, something or someone new is thrown into the story that changes everything. I cannot wait to see where the series goes from here, and I will absolutely be picking up the graphic novel once it drops later this year.