What to read, watch, and listen to if you lovedSchool Spirits
Nate Trinrud · Series · 2023
If you loved School Spirits, start with Missing (2023) — a film on the same thread. Below: 4 books, 4 films and 2 podcasts, each matched to School Spirits across media.
If School Spirits hooked you, it is because you crave the thrill of unraveling deep-seated secrets hidden behind high school facades.
Books on the same thread
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder
Holly Jackson · Book · 2021
Explores: Cold case investigation, Obsessive research, Secrets and lies.
Like the investigative journey in School Spirits, this novel centers on a student obsessively digging into a cold case, exposing the dark lies beneath a seemingly normal school.
School of Sight
Alisha Knaff · Book · 2016
Explores: Hidden World, Supernatural Powers, Coming of Age.
Just as Maddie navigates a hidden afterlife, this story features a protagonist whose reality fractures when she discovers a supernatural world co-existing alongside her everyday high school life.
I Have Some Questions for You
Rebecca Makkai · Book
Explores: unreliable narrator, memory and trauma, institutional secrets.
This narrative mirrors the academic mystery of School Spirits by returning to a boarding school setting to confront long-buried trauma and institutional secrets surrounding a tragic disappearance.
Spy School
Stuart Gibbs · Book
Explores: imposter syndrome, competence porn, underdog hero.
While lighter in tone than School Spirits, this provides a similar thrill of a young person navigating a complex, secret-filled world where their survival depends on solving mysteries.
Films on the same thread
Missing
Film · 2023
Shares a thread with School Spirits: Missing person.
This movie captures the same desperate search for a missing loved one found in School Spirits, using modern technology to peel back the layers of a complex disappearance.
Weapons
Zach Cregger · Film · 2025
Explores: Child Disappearance, Small Town Secrets, Community Trauma.
If the mystery of a sudden disappearance in School Spirits kept you watching, this film offers a similar sense of communal dread and small-town secrets following mass vanishings.
Brick
Rian Johnson · Film · 2006
Explores: Teenage angst, Underworld, Femme Fatale.
This gritty noir echoes the central drive of School Spirits, following a teenage outsider who infiltrates a high school underworld to find the truth about a missing girl.
I Saw the TV Glow
Jane Schoenbrun · Film · 2024
Explores: Transcendence, Escapism, Reality vs. Illusion.
This film reflects the surreal atmosphere of School Spirits, as a mysterious television show forces a teenager to question the boundaries between his reality and a hidden world.
Podcasts on the same thread
CounterClock
Audiochuck · Podcast · 2025
Explores: unsolved homicide, seeking justice, historical mystery.
Much like the investigative process in School Spirits, this podcast series focuses on the relentless pursuit of truth behind cold cases, unearthing secrets that have remained buried for years.
Up and Vanished
Tenderfoot TV · Podcast · 2026
Explores: missing persons, small town secrets, pursuit of truth.
This investigative franchise mirrors the core mystery of School Spirits by exploring the dark, hidden truths of small towns where disappearances leave behind more questions than answers.
Keep exploring
Common questions
What is the premise of School Spirits?
School Spirits follows a teenager named Maddie who finds herself stuck in the afterlife. While adjusting to high school purgatory, she investigates the mystery of her own disappearance and uncovers various secrets and lies as she attempts to discover the truth about what happened to her.
Does School Spirits involve a mystery?
Yes, School Spirits centers on a crime-solving journey. Maddie works to uncover the truth behind her mysterious disappearance while navigating life in the afterlife, making the investigation of her own death the primary focus of the narrative throughout the series.
Is School Spirits about high school life?
School Spirits features a unique take on high school life by placing the protagonist in high school purgatory. After her mysterious disappearance, Maddie must adjust to this supernatural environment while simultaneously investigating the truth behind her death and uncovering the secrets hidden by those around her.
What does Maddie do in School Spirits?
In School Spirits, Maddie investigates her own mysterious disappearance after becoming trapped in the afterlife. As she adjusts to high school purgatory, she embarks on a crime-solving journey, uncovering secrets and lies while attempting to piece together the truth regarding the circumstances of her death.