School Spirits: Season 1 – Netflix Review

SCHOOL SPIRITS on Netflix is a series that originally aired on Paramount+ and has now been added to Netflix as well. It follows a girl who died at school and tries to find out how and why. Read our School Spirits Season 1 review here!

SCHOOL SPIRITS is a new series on Netflix. The season has eight episodes and has already been released on Paramount+ where it premiered in March 2023. Now it’s also out on Netflix in the US, and fans can look forward to a season 2 coming in 2024.

The episodes are 45 minutes each and it’s a very engaging story with episodes usually ending on a cliffhanger. As the title teases, this is a ghost story that plays out at a school. The characters are intriguing and the actors deliver believable and strong performances, so there’s a lot to like.

Continue reading our School Spirits Season 1 review below. Find it on Netflix from November 30, 2023.

High School purgatory

In School Spirits, we follow Maddie Nears (Peyton List), who died on school premises. Now she’s a ghost (or spirit, if you will) who is trapped there. Unfortunately, she can’t remember how she died or why. Including who was responsible for her death.

Of course, this new series isn’t called “School Spirit” but rather “School Spirits” which should tell you something important. Maddie is far from the only person who died at this High School. Over the decades, quite a few people have passed away and they are all trapped there.

This is good as they helped the newcomers get into the habit of their new otherworldly life.

Also, it makes for an interesting character-driven story. There’s the gay boy who died in the 1990s and the football star who died in the 1980s. Usually, you can tell when they died based on their clothing and (sometimes) their behavior. Like the girl who passed away even earlier and is a classic hippie.

A classic whodunnit with pop culture references

Maddie and her best friend Simon are horror movie fans. And as any horror movie (or series) fan will know, this gives us a definite edge. We know people can be cruel and sinister despite appearing very charming. Much in the same way that we know what we plan on doing when the zombie apocalypse happens.

I know it’s not just me who feels this way, so I’m going to assume you at least understand where I’m coming from. Even if you have a more positive outlook as far as the future goes.

In any case, Maddie doesn’t have to worry about the future as much as figure out where her body is and what happened to her. In other words, a classic whodunnit but with a ghostly twist.

Watch season 1 of School Spirits on Netflix now!

This series was created by Megan Trinrud and Nate Trinrud. They’ve adapted the graphic novel they created themselves with Maria Nguyen. It very much feels like a passion project, which is something that also comes across to us viewers.

Also, the whole horror fan leading lady element means School Spirits has a lot of Young Adult pop culture references. Right down to the episode titles, which should make you wonder as you think of the original title.

The School Spirits season 1 episode titles are:

• My So-Called Death is episode 1
• The Fault in Our Scars is episode 2
• Dead and Confused is episode 3
• Ghoul Intensions is episode 4
• The Twilight End Zone is episode 5
• Grave the Last Dance is episode 6
• Séance Anything is episode 7
• Madison’s Body is episode 8 (season 1 finale)

It should be said that Maddie’s full name is Madison, which works better in terms of syllables when the title is a play of Jennifer’s Body. In any case, I loved these episode titles where the first and last are especially saying what the episode is all about.

The series premiered on Paramount+ this past March. Season 2 was officially greenlit in June, so in 2024, there will be a second season of School Spirits. I, for one, cannot wait to see what comes next!

School Spirits season 1 is on Netflix (US) from November 30, 2023.

Details

Creators: Megan Trinrud, Nate Trinrud
Directors: Oran Zegman, Max Winkler, Brian Dannelly, Hannah Macpherson
Cast: Peyton List, Kristian Flores, Milo Manheim