Garage Doors are much more dangerous than I think most people give them credit for. In fact, a lot of families in New Mexico, Texas, and California who celebrate dia de los muertos do so by decorating their garage doors with skulls and flowers.
The practice is an ancient one. People celebrate their dead on this day, instead of mourning them. This calls for drinks and snacks and dancing and music, and lots and lots of color images of skulls. It's a wonderful mix of life and death, a celebration of their coming together.
Historically, the Aztecs and other Meso-American civilizations kept skulls as
trophies and displayed them during the ritual. The skulls were used to
symbolize death and rebirth.
The skulls were used to honor the dead, whom the Aztecs and other
Meso-American civilizations believed came back to visit during the
monthlong ritual.
Unlike the Spaniards, who viewed death as the end of life, the
natives viewed it as the continuation of life. Instead of fearing death,
they embraced it. To them, life was a dream and only in death did they
become truly awake.