Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times
Elsie Poncher looks up toward the crypt of her husband, Richard, which is directly above that of Marilyn Monroe.

Here is a once in a lifetime and into eternity opportunity to spend your eternal days directly above Marilyn Monroe. This crypt in the famous Westwood Cemetary in West Los Angeles currently occupied above Marilyn Monroe is being vacated so as to make room for a new resident. "Spending Eternity next to Marilyn Monroe is too sweet to pass up", recently quoted by Hugh Heffner, who has reserved his place in eternity next to her. The lucky bidder will be deeded a piece of real estate that he or she will make their last address. And below you will be Marilyn Monroe. In fact the person occupying the address right now is looking face down on her.

That person is seller Elsie Poncher's late husband Richard, who bought the slot in the wall of lockers at Westwood Village in western Los Angeles from Joe DiMaggio during the ballplayer's divorce from Monroe in 1954. Elsie told the L.A. Times (For sale: eternity with Marilyn Monroe),

When he was dying, Elsie said, her husband approached her with a request. "He said, 'If I croak, if you don't put me upside down over Marilyn, I'll haunt you the rest of my life.' "

Right after the funeral, Elsie said, she told the funeral director of her husband's wish. "I was standing right there, and he turned him over," she said.

Richard Poncher's remains are to be moved after the auction, which Elsie created "to help pay off the $1.6-million mortgage on her 1 3/4 acre Beverly Hills home."

The current bid -- there have been 19 -- is $4,506,100 with the auction slated to end Monday.

There's a reason August is called "the silly season" in the news biz.

Update: The winning bid was $4,602,100, but eBay bidder balks after winning crypt above Marilyn Monroe.