When Poncher's husband was dying, he asked her to put him 'upside down over Marilyn' - and she did.

The husband, an entrepreneur who died 23 years ago at age 81, also threatened to 'haunt you the rest of my life' if she failed to have him turned face down.

Marilyn's crypt has been a draw for other buyers - like Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, for example, who plunked down $75,000 in 1992 for the crypt next to Monroe.

Other greats buried in the cemetery include actresses Natalie Wood and Donna Reed, musicians Buddy Rich and Frank Zappa, filmmakers Billy Wilder and Darryl F. Zanuck, and writers Sidney Sheldon and Truman Capote.

The e-Bay auction, which continues until Monday, defies the current flood of burial plot offerings at reduced prices on websites like Craig's List.

Cemetery operators say that fewer people are making advance purchases of cemetery plots right now, given the recession. In fact, some told the Washington Post that they are receiving a higher number of calls from people wanting to sell their plots.

One unemployed woman, Debbie Jenkins, was selling her two plots at a Maryland burial spot, the Fort Lincoln Cemetery, to make ends meet.

'MUST SELL!!! Be prepared! ... Rare opportunity to get into this sold out section!' she wrote in the Craig's List ad.

Jenkins, who was featured in the Post article, told DPA that the article had not yet helped to sell her plots, valued at $7,600. She was hoping to make at least $4,000 from the sale.