In “School Spirits,” protagonist Maddie (Peyton List) wakes up one day to find that she’s a ghost—and, perhaps even more disconcerting, trapped in high school forever. In the show, which premieres on Paramount + on March 9, ghosts are everywhere, they see everything, and unfortunately, they also cannot find the place where they died leave them.
Despite playing a ghost on screen, List herself does not like to entertain the idea that ghosts could be walking among us. “I feel like the mind is so powerful. I’d rather say no,” the 24-year-old star told POPSUGAR. “I don’t let that get in the way, because I think the mind can run and create reality. I’m going to try to keep telling myself that I’m not … me.”
Her costar Sarah Yarkin – who plays fellow ghost Rhonda – also says she is a “non-believer” – although Nick Pugliese, who introduces Maddie to the world in spirit as Charley’s friendly ghost, saying that Yarkin has “the craziest stories” about the supernatural, despite her skepticism. For his part, Pugliese accepts the ambiguity. “I’m leaning more towards no, but I’m not fixated on that,” he says. “I’m fine with that, too. I don’t need a ghost to show itself.”
Unlike List and Yarkin, who seem to be actively trying to avoid the supernatural even as it taps on their windows, costar Kristian Flores – who will ‘plays one of Maddie’s closest living friends, Simon – a little more open to belief, even if he hasn’t seen a spirit with his own eyes. “I’ve never seen a ghost. I’ve never seen one,” he says. “I wish it was. Because there are so many books and talks about it – I’m just straight [think] it’s true.”
Meanwhile, Kiara Pichardo, who plays Maddie’s friend Nicole, says she believes there are ghosts. “I lived in a haunted apartment in Queens, NY, when I was a kid,” she says. “Luckily, I don’t remember too much.” Maddie’s boyfriend Spencer McPherson , Xavier, on the show – also believes he may have encountered an extraterrestrial spirit. “I’ve had interesting experiences that I feel are difficult to explain away,” he said, laughing. “Just little bumps in the night. Or it’s colder than it should be – you know, seeing breath, and all the ropes you see in the movies. The witching hour will come, when you see you breathe and you’re in a tropical climate – it’s weird.” Rainbow Wedell, who plays the popular Claire, tends to agree. “I definitely believe in ghosts,” she says.
It seems that the “School Spirits” are divided down the middle as to whether or not they believe in the dead walking among us. Those who believe are certainly not the first stars to do so – famous people like Demi Lovato and Octavia Spencer have met the undead, sometimes in detail.
In “School Spirits,” ghosts aren’t horrible monsters that make things go bump in the night; they are just people, trying to make sense of their lives. Likewise, for the show’s writers, ghosts are more interesting as metaphors and narrative devices than they think. In “School Spirits”, Maddie’s mom struggles with alcoholism, and writers Nate and Megan Trinrud drew from their own experiences with an alcoholic father to create the story. The sisters eventually had to “move back to our small town in Illinois” to take care of their father, Nate says. “We were at it for years.” While in their childhood rooms, he says, he and his sister started talking about how they felt “dead inside. It was the best way we could explain.”
The idea for “School Spirits” arose from that feeling. “We took that idea and ran with it and made it happen – this idea of a girl who’s dead in life and has to work… try to get by,” he says. Ultimately, “School Spirits” isn’t about ghosts — it’s about “what it means to take steps to try to find your way back to feeling alive.”
