'Look at this gift!' Neil Patrick Harris laughs wickedly as he shows off hologram portraits of his twins' faces...that change to skulls

Published: 16:33 EST, 26 December 2015 | Updated: 16:33 EST, 26 December 2015

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It's a Christmas gift that will haunt him for years to come.

A delighted Neil Patrick Harris shared a five-second Instagram clip of himself holding up two framed, black and white portraits of the faces of his twins, Gideon and Harper, on Christmas Day

But all was not as it seemed.

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'Two of my top three gifts today': Neil Patrick Harris showed off two portraits of his twins that morphed into skulls as he turned them slightly in a five-second Instagram clip he posted on Christmas Day

The 42-year-old star gleefully said: 'Look at this gift.'

Then he uttered an ominous horror movie laugh as the five-year-olds' unsmiling faces morphed into skulls as he slightly turned the pictures.

The former How I Met Your Mother star captioned the hilariously scary snap: 'Two of my top three gifts today. My children + Haunted Mansion = squee!'

The before shot: The 42-year-old captioned the video, 'Two of my top three gifts today. My children + Haunted Mansion = squee!'

Picture this: The gleeful comedian couldn't stop himself uttering an ominous horror movie laugh as five-year-old Harper's face transformed into a hollow eyed skull

The comic actor was casually dressed in a white V-neck T-shirt and a Santa Claus hat for the big day.

He and husband David Burtka, 40, have been having a very jolly holiday, sharing another three video clips.

They included a delightful one of the family in the back of a cab on Christmas Eve on their way to dinner at celebrity chef Mario Batali's Babbo in New York City.

Spirited away: Then it was Gideon's turn for the ghastly ghostly treatment

Two of my top three gifts today. My children + Haunted Mansion = squee!

A video posted by Neil Patrick Harris (@nph) on Dec 25, 2015 at 5:47pm PST

Neil started off the video by saying, 'From our family to your yours.'

Harper continued 'merry Christmas Eve,' repeated by David, while Gideon added 'merry Christmas Eve, happy holidays.'

The family were all dressed up with their little girl, who sat on Neil's lap, in a seasonal red frock with a red rose in her blonde hair.

Festive family dinner: Neil posted this five-second clip of himself and his family in a cab on their way to dinner at celebrity chef Mario Batali's Babbo in New York City

Getting the ball rolling: He started off the video by saying, 'From our family to your yours' while Harper, who was sitting on his lap, continued 'merry Christmas Eve'

Her brother, who sat on David's lap, looked every inch the man about town in a white shirt and black trousers with matching black braces and a black bow tie.

Meanwhile, Neil is planning his career for 2016 after both he and NBC announced on December 15 that they had decided to pull the plug on his live variety show Best Time Ever.

NBC has said that it intends to stay in business with the star and they are investigating other projects, according to Variety.