Paranormal investigator doubles down on haunted presence at Richmond’s Byrd Theatre

A paranormal investigator is as convinced as ever that Richmond’s Byrd Theatre is haunted by the spirit of the Byrd’s first manager, Robert Coulter, and one or more giggling little girls in the women’s restroom.

Dennis Estlock, paranormal investigator and medium of over 25 years, is the lead investigator of a team of 12 called the Commonwealth Researchers of the Paranormal. Estlock reported his team contacted spirits at the Byrd Theatre in an overnight investigation about six years ago. 

“We saw a shadow figure sitting in a seat up in the balcony, and [the staff] said that was where [Coulter] was commonly seen sitting,” Estlock said. “In one of our photographs, it looked like that area was a little bit darker. It kind of had a form of a humanoid shape and his chair looked a little blurry.” 

The team used electromagnetic equipment to evaluate paranormal activity, asking spirits to make themselves known. 

“We captured EVP (electronic voice phenomenon) — that's what the recorders pick up that our ears don't hear. We heard a voice plain as day on the recorder that none of us heard with our ears,” Estlock recalled. He added that the group speculated it was Coulter, since it came from the area of the balcony where he liked to sit. 

“I believe one of our group members also captured what sounded like little girls giggling in the bathroom,” he said. 

Samuel Hatcher, operations manager at the Byrd, was there the night of the investigation. He recalled that investigators reported Coulter communicated with them and said his last movie he watched at the theatre was “Gone with the Wind.” And he hated it, Hatcher said. 

Coulter managed the Byrd Theatre for 43 years and died at the age of 76 in 1978. According to Hatcher, Coulter was a descendant of one of the original architects of the building.

Bob Gulledge, the Byrd’s organist for nearly 30 years, knew Coulter back in 1968 when Gulledge took organ lessons at the theatre — though not from Coulter. Gulledge described how Coulter was at the Byrd every day, even after retiring in 1971. 

“The place was extremely important to him,” Gulledge said. “He was always in the lobby and didn't miss anything. Anything that happened in the theatre, Mr. Coulter knew about it.” 

He described Coulter as a very tall, elegant man with white hair and a deep voice, always dressed in a charcoal gray suit, perfectly pressed white shirt, a narrow, black tie and shoes polished to a high gloss. 

According to Gulledge, Coulter constantly looked for ways to cut expenses, especially through energy conservation, so that the theatre could maintain its profitability.

Gulledge described an experience from the late ’90s that eerily echoed Coulter’s conservation practices: amid a CBS crew filming at the Byrd, discussing how Coulter used to switch off lights whenever he could, the entire building suddenly went dark. 

Estlock explained that in the paranormal world, those with strong ties to a place often linger as a spirit in the afterlife, pointing to Coulter as an example.

“To my understanding, [Coulter] absolutely loved that theatre,” he said. “Why wouldn’t he go back to the place that he loved most?” 

Strange encounters behind the scenes

In his three-and-a-half years working at the Byrd, Hatcher said he has experienced multiple unexplained occurrences.

“One time, I was backstage, and the door swung open and slammed shut, and I thought it was my coworker,” he said. “I walked back up to the front, and my coworker was standing in the front of the theatre. So, I had been alone back there.” 

Hatcher continued, “There is video of the back doors to the alley just blowing open one day, no breeze, and you don't get much air circulation in this theatre outside of our central AC.” 

Another time, according to Hatcher, film in the Byrd’s projection booth fluttered as if someone were walking by, though he was alone. “Stuff like that, you can't really explain.”

Years ago, Gulledge also claimed to have an unusual experience while practicing the organ alone in the theatre’s auditorium. 

“Out of the corner of my left eye, in an aisle seat about halfway back, I saw a shadow figure sitting,” he said. “My initial reaction was, ‘Could that have been Mr. Coulter?’”

Hatcher said that, sometimes, when he is the last one in the building, shutting down the lights, he gets an eerie feeling. He described it as “feeling like there's someone watching” and said, “you definitely get an aura of energy in this building.” 

Despite these accounts, not everyone is convinced of paranormal activity at the Byrd. However, some people are simply not as attuned or open to the paranormal world as others, according to Estlock.

“There are those we refer to as having a gift, like myself. I think it's drawn to me a lot of times simply because they know I can interact with them. I hear voices in my head that are not mine that give me information. We call it our third eye — the mind’s eye,” he said. 

“For most of us [paranormal investigators], what we do is just try to prove the existence of the other side.”

The name “Vincent” — coincidence or not? 

This “other side” took on new relevance during a recent incident at the Byrd. At a Nov. 2 showing of “Pulp Fiction,” just as Vincent Vega attempted to revive Mia Wallace from an overdose, screams of panic broke out for someone in the audience who was also named “Vincent.”

Heads turned in confusion and concern as EMTs arrived to assist the man. After receiving medical attention, he returned to his seat to finish the film. The Byrd Theatre would not share the medical cause of the incident. 

Graeme Martin, sophomore at the University of Richmond recalled, “At first, I thought it was a joke, and then people started to scream ‘call 911,’ which caused everyone to be in a fright.”

“Maybe it was a ghost at the Byrd selecting their victim as dramatic irony, since it’s the same name as someone in the movie,” Martin said.  

Another sophomore at the scene, Maggie Richards, said, “it felt like such a creepy coincidence.”

Estlock was more cautious. 

“I'm a firm believer that there is no such thing as coincidence,” he said, “but I think things can happen at odd moments that are kind of like coincidence.”

Haunted legacy 

The haunted reputation of the Byrd is something Hatcher said the theatre “absolutely” embraces. 

“We kind of lean into it in a sense. We love when people dress up and we love when our patrons have that experience and are expecting that,” Hatcher said. 

In October, the Byrd Theatre played Halloween horror films, including “The Exorcist,” “Carrie” and “The Conjuring.”

“The place is an experience in itself,” Gulledge said. “It was built to give people an escape from reality.” 

Paranormal groups contact the Byrd often, according to Hatcher. Investigators can rent the Byrd online and conduct in-person investigations with supervising staff present.

The Byrd Theatre is at 2908 W Cary Street, Richmond. General admission tickets typically range from $5 to $10 and can be purchased online or at the box office. 

Contact features writer Olivia Carr at olivia.carr@richmond.edu