School Spirits: Not Your Typical Ghost Story

School Spirits is a recently released tv show, It was released this March 9 and premiered on Paramount+. It has a rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. The creators of the show are Megan Trinrud who is known for Made in Hollywood (2005) and Weird Little Things (2013) and Nate Trinrud who is more known for Robin Hood (2018) and Black Widow (2021).

School Spirits is about a girl named Maddie Nears who goes missing and she doesn’t know what has happened to her or why she is stuck in the afterlife and can’t leave her school. She takes it upon herself to investigate the truth with the help of Simon who isn’t part of the afterlife but can see her. In the end, Maddie discovers the truth about what really happened.

Every two episodes are directed by different directors Episodes 1 and 2 “My So-called Death” and “The Fault of our scars” directed by Max Winkler, Episodes 3 and 4 “Dead and Confused” and      “Ghoul Intentions” directed by Oran Zegman, Episode 5 and 6 “The twilight end zone” and “Grave the last dance” directed by Brian Dannelly, and Episode 7 and 8 “Séance anything” and “Madison’s Body” directed by Hannah Macpherson.

The main stars of the show are Peyton List as Maddie Nears, Kristian Flores as Simon Elroy, Milo Manheim as Wally Clark, Spencer Macpherson as Xavier Baxter, Kiara Pichardo as Nicole Herrera, Sarah Yarkins as Rhonda, Nick Pugliese as Charley, and Rainbow Wedell as Claire Zomer.

Actors and characters who are shown multiple times on the show are Josh Zuckerman as Mr.Martin, Maria Dizzia as Sandra Nears, and RaeAnne Boon as Dawn.

Who is Maddie Nears? Maddie is a teenager who is stuck in the afterlife and spends her time trying to find out how she died. Maddie’s mother Sandra Nears was an alcoholic who days before Maddie’s disappearance was driving drunk with Maddie in the car and Maddie took responsibility for the accident. Before Maddie’s disappearance, she was in a conflict with her mother due to Sandra using the money she and Maddie’s deceased father had put away for Maddie to go to college, Sandra ended up leaving, and Maddie disappeared after.

Simon Elroy is bestfriends with Maddie.He is alive and can still see Maddie. Simon first sees her after in disappearance in her vigil. Simon helps Maddie investigate her disappearance.

Wally Clark is a ghost who has been stuck in the school since the 1980s. Wally was a star football player who mainly started playing because of his mother Bea Clark. Wally’s coach had benched him in a game but Bea wasn’t going to put up with that, told Wally he wasn’t going to get a scholarship benched and the coach ended up putting Wally back in. Wally’s death was caused in a homecoming game his senior year, Wally was tackled and his neck was snapped bringing him to his death, and as he stated he never made it off that field. In the afterlife, he joined the Split River High Afterlife Support Group.

Xavier Baxter is also alive and was Maddie’s Boyfriend. He can’t see her. Maddie and Simon were both suspicious of him due to the fact he had Maddie’s phone. Xavier and Nicole Herrera teamed up. They believed the police had given up on finding Maddie because everybody had already made up their minds about what they thought of him.

Nicole Herrera is a Best friend of Maddie and she’s also alive. Nicole blackmailed Mr.Anderson for a money cut with a video she had taken of him talking with Claire Zomer, where Claire is also blackmailing him for good grades because she knows he stole money from the school. Claire Zomer was also the girl Xavier was cheating on Maddie with and why he said he had Maddie’s phone to delete a message that would expose their affair to Maddie.

Rhonda is dead and a ghost, her cause of death is that her life was taken away by her guidance counselor. Her guidance counselor was Mr.Manfredo who treated Rhonda even better than her parents but that changed when she got accepted into Berkeley, he thought they had more than just a student and guidance counselor relationship. Rhonda also joined the Split River High Afterlife Support Group with the goal of one day crossing over.

Charley is also a ghost another was the one that brought Maddie into the Split River High Afterlife Support Group after another member had crossed over. Charley when he was alive was teased for dating Emilio Figueroa another guy. Charley died due to an allergic reaction the the peanut oil they cooked the school fries with. After his death people still made fun of him for dying from an allergic reaction.

Mr.Martin is a ghost who was a chemistry teacher. His death was caused by a fire in the chemistry lab, he died along with Janet Hamilton who was the member who crossed over before Maddie’s disappearance. But had Janet really crossed over? The students that survived that fire said that he had created the fire. Mr.Martin is the leader of the Split River High Afterlife Support Group.

Dawn is a ghost who died from being electrocuted after hearing her friends talk about her in the 1970s. Dawn Managed to cross over after speaking with Maddie and overcoming her issues.

The drama, the secrets, the suspicious details of the disappearance of Maddie. Every character has their own story and their own secrets.

What really did happen to Maddie Nears? Watch the show and you’ll find out.