School Spirits season 3 is finally back in session, and the afterlife at Split River High has never felt more crowded. The Paramount+ supernatural teen drama returned on Tuesday, January 28, 2026, with the first three episodes of its new eight-episode season, continuing Maddie Nears’ search for answers while the line between life and death keeps getting blurrier.
For Peyton List’s Maddie, Milo Manheim’s Wally Clark, Kristian Ventura’s Simon Elroy, and the rest of the Split River ghost gang, season 3 picks up directly after the cliffhangers of season 2. Wally has just turned back from crossing over, Mr. Martin is trapped inside the mysterious scar that powers the afterlife, and a new bus-crash twist is about to rewrite the history of the school.
This guide breaks down when and how to watch School Spirits season 3, which cast members are back, the biggest new twist,s and what to expect from episode 4, “The Bereftest Club,” as School Spirits season 3 premieres on Paramount+ for viewers in the U.S. and beyond.
School Spirits season 3 release date, time, and where to watch
L-R: Sarah Yarkin as Rhonda and Miles Elliot as Yuri in School Spirits, Season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/Paramount+.
School Spirits season 3 officially premiered on Tuesday, January 28, 2026, on Paramount+, with episodes 1–3 dropping together. New episodes then roll out weekly on Wednesdays, with Paramount+ listing a 12:00 a.m. PT / 3:00 a.m. ET release time for each chapter.
That midnight Pacific window lines up with the global schedule Crystal George lays out in her ShowSnob coverage: in the U.K., new installments arrive at 8:00 a.m. GMT, while Australian fans get them at 7:00 p.m. AEDT. George also notes that all of season 3 streams exclusively on Paramount+; there is no linear cable simulcast.
For Paramount+ viewers in the United States and Canada, the supernatural drama remains a streaming exclusive. Elsewhere, availability can vary by territory, but the core message is simple: if you want to watch School Spirits season 3 as soon as it drops, you need an active Paramount+ subscription.
On TVLine’s What to Watch Today, School Spirits shares that 3:00 a.m. ET streaming drop with other early-morning genre offerings like Beast Games, Fallout, Hijack, Shrinking and The Wrecking Crew, before network stalwarts such as Chicago Med, The Masked Singer, The Price Is Right at Night, Shifting Gears, Abbott Elementary, The Beauty, Chicago Fire, Fear Factor: House of Fear, Hollywood Squares, Sistas, Southern Charm, Star Search, Chicago P.D. and Shark Tank take over primetime.
School Spirits season 3 episode guide and schedule
Milo Manheim as Wally Clark in School Spirits, Season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/Paramount+.
PEOPLE’s release calendar spells out the full eight-episode roadmap for the season.
- Tuesday, January 28, 2026 – Episode 1, “It’s a Wonderful Afterlife”
- Tuesday, January 28, 2026 – Episode 2, “Mean Ghouls”
- Tuesday, January 28, 2026 – Episode 3, “The Halls Have Eyes”
- Wednesday, February 4, 2026 – Episode 4, “The Bereftest Club”
- Wednesday, February 11, 2026 – Episode 5, “Raiders of the Lost Scar”
- Wednesday, February 18, 2026 – Episode 6, “Children of the Scorned”
- Wednesday, February 25, 2026 – Episode 7, “Midsomester”
- Wednesday, March 4, 2026 – Episode 8, “Dawn of the Deb”
One early episode-count breakdown snippet associated with Primetimer briefly linked “The Bereftest Club” with a February 18, 2026 date. However, Paramount+ listings, PEOPLE’s schedule, and Crystal George’s episode 4 preview all align on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, for that installment, with “Children of the Scorned” set for February 18, 2026, instead.
School Spirits season 3 cast and characters
Lizzy McAlpine as Joyce Ball in School Spirits, Season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/Paramount+.
Between PEOPLE’s season 3 preview and TVLine’s cast-reaction feature, it is clear which faces are haunting Split River High this year.
- Peyton List as Maddie Nears
- Milo Manheim as Wally Clark
- Kristian Ventura as Simon Elroy
- Nick Pugliese as Charley (also spelled Charlie in some credits)
- Sarah Yarkin as Rhonda
- Ci Hang Ma as Quinn, whose birth name is Jaclyn
- Rainbow Wedell as Claire Zomer
- Kiara Pichardo as Nicole Herrera
- Miles Elliot as Yuri
- Josh Zuckerman as Mr. Martin
- Jess Gabor as Janet Hamilton
- Jennifer Tilly as Dr. Hunter-Price, also credited as Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price
- Spencer MacPherson (also styled Spencer Macpherson) as Xavier Baxter
- Livia, the sharp-tongued “mean girl” who leads Split River’s Queen Bee clique and is Dr. Hunter-Price’s daughter
Co-creator Nate Trinrud explains how each season has shifted focus. “In season 1, we really focused on Maddie and the things that haunted her,” he says. “In season 2, we really got to learn more about the ghosts at school and what was haunting all of them.” Looking ahead to the new batch, he teases that one of the big questions is, “What’s haunting Split River?” and promises, “I think that we can safely say that anybody who wanted a few more scares will get them this season.”
Nick Pugliese, who plays Charley, echoes that escalation. “I think everyone has had the question for all three seasons of why are so many kids dead at this school?” he says. “The answers are not fun. They’re spooky.”
Those darker directions are unpacked by journalist Samantha Stutsman at PEOPLE, critic Andy Swift at TVLine, and ShowSnob’s Crystal George, whose pieces keep a close eye on the fallout across Split River.
Inside season 3’s twists: Wally’s fate, Mr. Martin’s past, and more
L-R: Spencer Macpherson as Xavier Baxter and Kristian Ventura as Simon Elroy in School Spirits, Season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/Paramount+.
Wally’s arc picks up exactly where season 2 left off. In the season 3 premiere, he turns back from the light and stays at Split River High instead of crossing over. Milo Manheim explains, “I trusted the [show’s] creators, that their headspace would be in the same place mine was, which is that Wally isn’t ready to disappear.” He adds that “He needs to say goodbye first” and quickly realizes “there’s a lot of unfinished business to attend to, regarding Simon and Maddie.”
“The afterlife may think he’s ready to cross over, but I don’t think he’s ready for it,” Manheim says. That tension powers one of season 3’s most striking images: Maddie and Wally standing inches apart on the football field, unable to touch. “I think there’s something beautiful and tense about that scene, for that reason,” Manheim notes, adding, “Throughout the season, there are so many moments where not being able to touch adds so many different layers.”
Peyton List relished playing the reunion from Maddie’s perspective. “I loved that scene,” she says. “We shot it during sunset, which was so beautiful, but we were losing light, so we were trying to [get it done quickly].” For her, “It was nice to have a normal moment between these two characters of just levity and joy, just being able to see each other.”
Season 3 also reveals that Mr. Martin is more dangerous than the ghosts ever realized. After the season 2 finale exposed his role in the bus crash, the new episodes find him trapped in what TVLine describes as a nightmarish church-like realm inside his own scar. Janet warns that “He’s the most dangerous when he’s desperate… and he’s never been more desperate.” Actor Josh Zuckerman agrees, saying, “He really is grasping at his own sense of reality and trying to stay above water,” and adding, “When you’re at your most desperate is when you need people the most.”
From inside that twisted scar world, Mr. Martin begins hinting at “other” spirits in the school that “aren’t like us,” opening the door to a much larger mythology that now stretches beyond the familiar study-hall ghosts.
Xavier’s journey ties directly into that expanding map of the afterlife. Thanks to the accident at Red Pine General, he becomes a rare living person who can see and hear spirits in the hospital. “It’s so poetic that he’s the one who has this ability to help her mend the trauma of losing her father,” Spencer MacPherson says of Xavier’s connection to Maddie, adding later, “It’s been awesome to see Xavier grow.”
The twist that Yuri’s mocking teen tormentor in the hospital is actually his own grandson hits just as hard. Miles Elliot remembers his first read-through reaction: “Oh my gosh, I remember reading that and being like, ‘What?’” He points out that “Yuri is 17, but he’s not really 17, obviously, because he’s been alive for so long, but he’s in the 17-year-old’s body,” which makes the family reveal even more gut-wrenching.
Yuri and Charley’s relationship, now strained by that secret, pushes both characters into vulnerable territory. Elliot notes that the twist “forces Yuri to confront how much internalized self-hate he still carries,” while Pugliese has to play Charley, oscillating between hurt and empathy.
On the human side, Quinn’s gender journey becomes one of season 3’s most poignant through-lines. Ci Hang Ma calls it “really fulfilling as an actor to get to dive deep into something like this,” explaining that “Quinn has only been awake for one or two weeks, and they’re still sort of stuck in that time.” The character has not yet found the language to describe their identity: “They don’t have the words to explain [being] non-binary or whatever this is.”
Rhonda is the first to truly see Quinn. Sarah Yarkin says of their dynamic, “They’re so different, and I think it’s funny, sometimes the people we are most drawn to are the most different from us.” That contrast lets Rhonda drop her defenses and consider an emotional future she never imagined when she was alive.
Back among the living, Nicole’s undercover mission inside the mean-girl circle led by Livia brings out new shades in both characters. Kiara Pichardo admits, “I thought it was a super sweet moment for Claire and Nicole” when Claire gives Nicole a pre-party pep talk and makeover. Rainbow Wedell laughs that “Kiara can do makeup a lot better than I can,” adding, “She was teaching me how to put lip liner on her for that scene.”
What to expect from School Spirits season 3 episode 4, “The Bereftest Club”
L-R: Anisa Harris as Aurora and Erika Swayze as Livia in School Spirits, Season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/Paramount+.
Episode 4, “The Bereftest Club,” arrives on Wednesday, February 4, 2026, at 12:00 a.m. PT / 3:00 a.m. ET on Paramount+. Crystal George’s preview frames the title as a clear nod to The Breakfast Club and sets the stage for a therapy-circle bottle episode inside Split River High.
After a string of traumatic events, Dr. Deborah Hunter-Price organizes an after-school bereavement group that pulls together Maddie, Wally, Nicole, Xavier, Claire and Livia. The students half-jokingly dub themselves “the bereftest club,” but their grief is real, and the session forces each of them to say out loud what they have lost.
Because Wally and Maddie still cannot touch, episode 4 doubles as a pressure cooker for their relationship. The enforced intimacy of sitting in a circle, sharing secrets they have hidden even from each other, lets their bond grow without erasing the supernatural distance that keeps them apart.
At the same time, the Bereftest Club meetings give Quinn, Rhonda, Yuri, and Charley new vantage points on the living. As the group therapy reveals how much pain the survivors are carrying, the ghosts begin to suspect that whatever is “haunting Split River” is targeting both dimensions at once.
Early reaction and how School Spirits season 3 fits into Paramount+’s lineup
L-R: Sarah Yarkin as Rhonda and Ci Hang Ma as Quinn in School Spirits, Season 3, streaming on Paramount+, 2026. Photo Credit: Ed Araquel/Paramount+.
Season 3 represents a darker, more ambitious evolution for School Spirits without abandoning its character-first heart. PEOPLE emphasizes how much more horror-forward the new run feels while still centering Maddie’s coming-of-age story.
For longtime fans, the combination of bigger mythology, sharper social themes, and messy teen romance makes School Spirits season 3 essential viewing. For newcomers who discovered Peyton List through projects like Cobra Kai or watched Milo Manheim grow up on Disney Channel, the new episodes offer a supernatural high-school drama that is both weirder and more emotionally grounded than most.
However you come to it, School Spirits season 3 on Paramount+ is now in full swing, with new installments dropping every Wednesday through the finale on March 4, 2026. If you care about where Maddie, Wally, Simon, Charley, Rhonda, Quinn, Nicole, Xavier, Yuri, and Mr. Martin end up, this is the season you do not want to miss.
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