Nightmarish Sequel for DreamWorks?

“Anyone miss the irony of this relationship?” asks reader R. Kinslow, referring to the agreement signed by DreamWorks SKG to build a $250-million studio and headquarters at Playa Vista. Some protesters claim the area is a sacred Indian burial site.

Which prompted Kinslow to recall the 1982 horror movie, “Poltergeist,” in which a family moves into a new house only to be plagued by demons who turn their lives into nightmares.

The reason?

Their subdivision was built on a sacred Indian burial site. Eventually tiring of the flashing lights, objects flying around the room and a daughter becoming possessed by late-night television, the family puts up a “For Sale” sign. Oh, yes, the movie was produced and written by DreamWorks partner Steven Spielberg.

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NOTHING PERSONAL: A while back, I mentioned readers who had received letters addressed to “Unknown,” “Non-Person” and “Human.”

Then I heard from Lois Willows, who got a pre-approved credit card application (with a $50,000 limit) made out to “Fax Willows.” She added: “My fax is listed in the phone book. I knew my machine was valuable to me--just hadn’t understood how valuable.”

Nancy Caldwell, meanwhile, was sent a piece of junk mail calling her “Ms. Nancy Retired.” Observed Caldwell: “Guess it’s better than ‘Ms. Nancy Expired.’ ”

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THEY HAVE HER NUMBER: Another way to look at the above cases, as I noted previously, was that at least the recipients were more than just a number.

“Not all us are so lucky,” wrote Judy Stuart, who was renamed “Judy 11” in a recent mailing (see accompanying).

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ANGELENOS OVERSEAS: Bill and Mary Hawk of Arcadia stayed at a hotel in Hawaii where a sign in the parking garage suggested a relaxed attitude toward security (see photo). They experienced no problems--even though the office next to the sign “was never manned during our three-day stay.”

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ATTENTION CHROME DOMES: Charles Barragan noticed what appears to be a great deal for bald grooms (see accompanying).

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RATINGS ARE ALL THAT COUNT: If you watched the death of the Jimmy Smits character in TV’s “NYPD Blue” the other night, you know what a poignant scene it was. And you can imagine how depressed the writers must have been to see ABC’s pre-show advertising, which compared it to such highly rated TV episodes as “Who Shot J.R.?”

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MYSTERIOUS SOUNDS (CONT.): The story about the woman who thought a pager set on “vibrate” in her closet was a growling animal reminded Cindy Sennett of another case of technology confusion.

“My friend’s husband replaced the batteries in all of the smoke detectors in the house,” she wrote.

The sound continued. Was the house haunted, as in “Poltergeist”?

Actually, the husband had mistaken the audio “reminder” chirp of his wife’s pager for the “battery low” chirp on a smoke detector.

The husband’s frustration only increased when his wife returned from shopping and deduced immediately that her pager was sounding off. And the only number displayed on the pager was that of her husband’s cell phone. And he couldn’t remember why he’d called.

miscelLAny:

A notice at Cal Poly Pomona announced a psychic fair to be held outdoors, adding, “if rain, in Multipurpose Room.” The psychics wouldn’t know beforehand?

Steve Harvey can be reached by phone at (213) 237-7083, by fax at (213) 237-4712, by e-mail at steve.harvey@latimes.com and by mail at Metro, L.A. Times, Times Mirror Square, L.A. 90053.