It is a toy that instantly conjures up happy childhood memories and warm feelings of fuzzy nostalgia.

Tickle Me Elmo was a plush toy introduced to the world in 1996 and based on the character Elmo from the children's Muppet television show, Sesame Street. When squeezed, he would chuckle and vibrate.

But those happy childhood vibes were crushed last night on Twitter when a mobile Canadian science museum stripped him down to his endoskeleton.

Get ready for nightmares, because a furless Elmo will mangle your mind forever with its uncanny, skinned-alive-but-still-giggling freakiness.

The sight of the laughing, skeletal creature comes courtesy of the Ontario-based Science and Technology Museum, #ScienceMobile.

Twitter users were horrified at the sight.