Made on Cape Cod: Ghost of the Orleans Inn

It was only after purchasing the property that Ed Maas discovered that the Orleans Inn was haunted.

He was told by local residents and his realtor that there were in fact instances that the Victorian Mansion, built by sea captain Aaron Snow in 1875 - it was inhabited by ghosts.

Maas had bought the waterfront hotel in 1996 with every intention of tearing it down. But when his wife, Laurie was walking through the hotel on a warm day, and felt a blast of cold air, she told Maas, “‘we have to save the building for the ghosts.’”

So, renovations began, and the Inn was reopened by the Maas family in May, 1997.

Maas and his family have identified three ghosts that are a constant presence in the Inn. “Fred,” who was a bartender in the 1950s and hung himself in cupola; “Paul,” a dishwasher in the 1970s who hung himself in the basement; and “Hannah,” who was a “lady of the night” during the roaring 20s was reportedly murdered in the front entrance of the Inn, which was at that time a brothel.

The stories of these ghosts were chronicled in Maas’ book Ghost of the Orleans Inn.

The book was published in 2008 and 35,000 copies were printed by Paraclete Press in Brewster. It took just under a year for Maas to research and write. Many of the stories were told to Maas through word of mouth and he also spent a lot of time learning about the Inn’s history in the archives section of Snow Library.

Much of Maas’ book is told using Hannah’s voice. She wanders the Inn, but spends most of her time in Room 5 - the room right above the front entrance where she was killed. Ed calls Hannah a “sweetheart” who lights candles, opens doors for people, and sometimes dances naked around the room.

The book inspired an episode of the Syfy Channel’s show Ghosthunters.

Maas recalls how the producers of the show took over the Inn for two weeks, shut off the electricity, and recorded ghost appearances and sounds.

The episode, called “Inn of the Dead,” showed evidence of the ghosts. Voices were heard in the cupola, shadows passed in front of the cameras, mumbles were heard in the dining room and footsteps in places where people were not.

But the presence of Hannah was the most telling.

Two of the filmmakers asked Hannah a question, asking her to respond by turning off and on a flashlight. A full conversation with Hannah was recorded and she reported that she was murdered by a customer, and that she is not the only ghost in the Inn.

Immediately following the Ghosthunters episode they had a lot of inquiries about the hotel, and Rooms 4 and 5 - those close to Hannah - became their most requested. And according to Maas they have “had people offer $1 million to spend the rest of their lives there.”

When asked if anyone has ever left on account of the ghosts, Maas said that they might have one room check out a year. But “a vast majority of people say ‘there is something special about this place.’”

For Maas, the sounds of footsteps and doors being unlocked and opened without explanation, happens so often, he doesn’t think twice about it. “In the beginning,” he said “I was scared, and now I just live with it.”

Prior to his experiences with Hannah, Fred and Paul, Maas didn’t believe in ghosts. But now he is a true believer. “A lot has happened [at the Inn] over 130 years--there’s no doubt some of it has been left over.”