  For integers $m\geq 3$ and $1\leq\ell\leq m-1$, we study the eigenvalue
problem $-u^{\prime\prime}(z)+[(-1)^{\ell}(iz)^m-P(iz)]u(z)=\lambda u(z)$ with
the boundary conditions that $u(z)$ decays to zero as $z$ tends to infinity
along the rays $\arg z=-\frac{\pi}{2}\pm \frac{(\ell+1)\pi}{m+2}$ in the
complex plane, where $P(z)=a_1 z^{m-1}+a_2 z^{m-2}+...+a_{m-1} z$ is a
polynomial. We provide asymptotic expansions of the eigenvalue counting
function and the eigenvalues $\lambda_{n}$. Then we apply these to the inverse
spectral problem, reconstructing some coefficients of polynomial potentials
from asymptotic expansions of the eigenvalues. Also, we show for arbitrary
$\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric polynomial potentials of degree $m\geq 3$ and all
symmetric decaying boundary conditions that the eigenvalues are all real and
positive, with only finitely many exceptions.
