Gaia
Urban's Village Idiot
Does look like an orb weaver, they die before xmas with the cold weather.
Orb weaver is a family, Araneidae, of spiders, not a species, and there is no such species as 'red orb weaver'. I know this is an old post but, for future generations, that's most likely a 4-spot orb weaver (Araneus quadratus).