'School Spirits' Season 3 Review: Peyton List's Supernatural Series Plunges Into Darkness With a Horror Icon

1 week ago 9

Maddie looks worried as a crowd of people move around in the background.

Published Jan 28, 2026, 3:00 AM EST

Jasneet Singh is a writer who finally has a platform to indulge in long rants about small moments on TV and film in overwhelming detail. With a literature background, she is drawn to the narrative aspect of cinema and will happily rave about her favorite characters. She is also waiting for the Ranger's Apprentice novels to be adapted... but the cycle of hope and disappointment every two years is getting too painful to bear.

"It's a whole new show for me," said Kristian Ventura when asked about his experience filming School Spirits Season 3 during an interview with Collider at Sundance 2026. It's a sentiment that succinctly encapsulates watching the Paramount+ show's newest season, one that flips the narrative on its head, reverse-engineers the stakes, and rises to the challenge of a hellish tone. Of the season's eight episodes, the first three were provided for review, and they were enough to appreciate that School Spirits is heading in a bold, new direction. The foundation of the previous seasons remains, including that teenage angst and coming-of-age sweetness, but it takes on a darker form, one that works admirably thus far.

School Spirits Season 2 left us on the jaw-dropping cliffhanger of Maddie (Peyton List) returning to her physical body and Simon (Ventura) getting trapped in a red scar. The third season picks up right there, with Maddie navigating the repercussions of her disappearance in her home life and at school, while Simon takes up Maddie's mantle in the afterlife. It's the first overt role reversal of the season, but there are many more surprises to come, redefining everything we thought we knew about Split River High and its mysterious limbo.

'School Spirits' Season 3 Embraces Its Darkness in Death and Life

The first two seasons of School Spirits were a comforting brand of ghostly, but the third season wafts into the territory of ghoulish, or almost demonic. On both the living and dead sides of the story, the series ups the ante with a slew of villains and creepy entities, leaning into the seeds of horror that were budding in the background of the first seasons. Many of the introduced ideas tread on familiar ground, including an ultra-strict authority figure summoned from the nightmares of every high school student, a classic Carrie bloodbath scene, or suspicions of malicious counterparts to our kind ghosts. But that's not to say the show doesn't incorporate these ideas seamlessly into the story; nothing feels forced, and its darker trajectory is cohesive.

Also, what better way to plunge into darkness than to introduce a horror icon to the cast? School Spirits previously teased the addition of Jennifer Tilly, who doesn't quite have a major role in the first three episodes of the season, but her brief on-screen appearances already demand our attention. Her character may begin as an archetype, but disturbing undercurrents to her behavior and demeanor are hopefully setting up the "seriously unhinged" revelation Tilly hints at during the same Sundance interview. She plays a huge role in crafting the dread-laden atmosphere that hangs over the school and is vital for the show's tonal shift, so it was a pretty effective casting choice.

Alongside its promising, cumulative darkness are the light-hearted coming-of-age components that make School Spirits the teenage romp that it is, though even these take on a more serious tone. More so than previously, grief, loss, and anxiety during adolescence become bigger themes in the show, where the supporting cast's backstories and identities are fleshed out in moving sequences, particularly Yuri (Cihang Ma) and Rhonda (Sarah Yarkin). While occasionally it can be emotionally overwhelming, there is usually a reprieve through dark humor or the utterly ridiculous, but fitting subplot two of the characters find themselves in — infiltrating a group of teenage mean girls is apparently just as daunting as escaping the afterlife.

'School Spirits' Season 3 Doesn't Lose Itself in Novelty

In many shows with expansive world-building, there is usually a make-or-break point where adding another layer atop an already complex system can either make it far too convoluted or stronger. It seems that School Spirits is reaching that point with its supernatural system, as the first three episodes set up numerous moving parts to its afterlife. So far, the writing and direction are confident enough that the added elements aren't disrupting the story's flow or its immersive nature. Precise and clear storytelling makes the suspense in the atmosphere possible, and if previous seasons are anything to go by, there should be a decent payoff, though it's too soon to tell.

Not only do the paranormal rules expand, but so does the setting. In Season 2, Xavier's (Spencer MacPherson) near-death accident granted him the ability to communicate with the dead in the hospital, including Maddie's father. As expected, that plays a huge role in Season 3, and the hospital becomes a staple set in the show, contributing to its pursuit of darker (and ironically enough, funnier) material. There are also a couple of new sets in the afterlife that are impressively creepy, truly signaling the series' tonal shift. Thus far, School Spirits is juggling its new rules, locations, and characters with a strong and clear direction, while still balancing these with the emotional texture that resides at the heart of the show.

Peyton List Delivers Her Strongest Performance in 'School Spirits' Season 3

Now that Maddie and Simon's roles are essentially flipped in Season 3, School Spirits introduces a whole new set of relationships and stakes through the ensemble cast's performances and chemistry. Maddie's interactions with her living friends are filtered through the strangeness of her disappearance and the unresolved issues they had before their communication was abruptly cut off. In Season 2, List's performance was divided between her roles as Maddie and Janet-Maddie, but here, her attention is wholly directed at the bizarre and grueling circumstances Maddie's reappearance has led to. Some of her strongest performances in the show are in these episodes, carried out with an unexpected grit that her character benefits from.

Meanwhile, Simon is meeting all the ghosts face-to-face for the first time, and this results in some memorable interactions. Naturally, the dynamics between the ghosts change with this addition, especially after a disappointingly anticlimactic decision at the beginning of the season. While the narrative choice makes sense in the long-run, the execution harms the stakes of the show. Despite that, Simon's new situation and relationships offer a new set of stakes that lean more into the realm of horror than supernatural drama, making for a gripping viewing experience.

In the first three episodes, School Spirits Season 3 is clearly gearing up for some kind of supernatural chaos, and its approach thus far has been effective. For a series that prioritized teenage stories through a supernatural lens, it's a bold move to strike out into more overt horror, but it's working in the show's favor. If the series continues down this path, Season 3 could potentially become the strongest and scariest installment yet.

School Spirits Season 3 premieres on January 28, only on Paramount+.

Release Date March 9, 2023

Network Paramount+

Directors Hannah Macpherson, Brian Dannelly, Max Winkler, Oran Zegman

Writers Nate Trinrud, Megan Trinrud, Oliver Goldstick, Nandita Seshadri

Arvind Johal

Paramedic #1

Pros & Cons

The series' tonal shift into horror is cohesive, balanced, and promising.
Peyton List only grows stronger in her performance, surprising us with some gritty scenes.
The plotting of the mystery, worldbuilding, and storytelling is confident and clear so far.