I really don't know enough about dream interpretation to answer this. However I do think our dreams reflect some of the work going on in our psyche, and are maybe a way of bringing into our awareness issues that are being held in the subconscious. I've never really been prone to nightmares, but I will say that lately I have been having some very strange dreams.Trying to connect the dots as to what relevance they may have in my current reality can be both frustrating and interesting. Hope someone else can give you some more input on this.

When we draw near what we really want, what is unlike what we want draws near, it seems almost like jealousy or a test. Many years ago when I decided to be a warrior for God (what is a warrior with nothing to fight?) I started having nightmares, of devils, demons, the living dead, vampires, ghouls, just really awful things chasing me.

From these things I learned to overcome them and I even learned how to take over control consciously of the dream itself. Imagine that you are ghoul almost ready to grab your target and all of a sudden the entire reality you are in changes, it is no longer dark and cloudy it is noon the sun is shining bright the birds are singing and you change into a happy human being.

I became so good at defeating everything I remember one time I dreamed of Freddie Kruger after me I had beat him up with my karate. Another time was the devil I beat him up too, I remember I was suppose to read from a book to stop him and the devil made a strong wind to blow away the pages, I said "forget this!" I threw the book down went right over to this devil that was hurting all my friends and beat him up until he didn't exist anymore.

One time the four horse men came after me, I pointed at the sky and down at them and BANG a huge lightning bolt shot from the sky and disintegrated them on the spot.

Another time I was way out numbered by the hundreds with living dead after me, I commanded an earth quake that took care of them.

One time I remember there was a dream of an anti-Christ as a child he touched me, I did not realize he was the anti-Christ until he touched me. I could feel all my energy being taken away sucked up by him, I couldn't fight him so instead I kept sending him thoughts of you are loved. He transformed and thanked me for setting him free from evil.

I have had very many dreams like all of these over the years, but always my mind was on how do I solve this?

For me my nightmares became my adventures!

Added

These could be self created I remember one that some idiot was trying to kill me with a chain saw, I grabbed him by his arms and made him cut myself in half on purpose. Then I looked at him and said, "owwww was that suppose to hurt?" He dropped the chain saw and screamed and ran away!!!!! LOL In spite of how this sounds it was not gory or bloody, more like some magic trick cut in half thing like I was made of light and I was just cutting light in half.

It maybe that emotions and fears that you are suppressing during your conscious hours are awakened at night while you are sleeping. Try to write down your dreams and analyze them by asking yourself what the images represent to you. Usually I can intrepret my dreams very well using this method.

I used to worry and I used to have all kinds of nightmares.
Over time I started using my understanding of the nature of consciousness (The law of attraction) to examine & release my worries one by one.
I rarely worry about things now.
I also rarely have nightmares. (I said rarely, not never)
Wade Casaldi's answer is absolutely the best way to deal with nightmares.
I spontaneously started dealing with my fears in the dream reality in the exact same way. I started taking command. Not only did fighting back work, but the realization that I am made in God's image and that I have the power of creation within the dream reality gave me a tremendous power of authority.

When I couldn't physically overcome a force that was opposing me in my dream reality, I switched to God mode and I commanded in God's name that the very reality bend according to my wishes. And would you know it, it actually works! The secret is to believe that you actually possess this power to command reality.

I cannot say that I use this same confidence in my wakeful state, that's why when I read Wade's answer to another question, suggesting the adoption of a standpoint on invincibility, I was really impressed by the use of that technique in the wakeful state.

I need to make a point here about the whole "Law of Attraction" thing. I hate this description of manifesting reality, for this particular reason. Most people reading that statement tend to believe that the "Attraction" is what makes things happed and in the absence of "Attraction" There is some sort of a "Un Attracted" version of reality in which they exist.

What really happens instead is there is an inner picture of how things are, and that picture is faithfully reflected in the physical reality. Suddenly you decide you don't like the outer effect, that is really the reflection of the inner picture, and you make a change to the inner picture. This inner change now causes the outer reflection to change until it catches up to the new inner picture. This process of "catching up" to the new picture happens over a passage of time where some learning, growing, and working is required. This "catching up" phase is really the "attraction" phase of the physical experience. But one must realize that everything is a result of a previous "attraction" or "catching up" to the current state of mind.

So one can create an inner picture of a new state where there are no more nightmares and hold that position as the new "normal" place to be, and wait for the outer reflection to catch up or be attracted into existence.

nightmares are a mannifestation of your fear in the spiritual (or spirit) realm, the buffer area, the reason it mannifest itself is because in pure spirit form, you are abble to instantly mannefst! this is what a nightmare is! to fix it you can do lucid dreaming BUT is uggest that you start using your medditation to find the underlined sub connsies fear and attac this !!!!

love n light,

rob

"In normal daily life, considerable natural therapy often takes place in the dream state, even when nightmares of such frightening degree arise that the sleeper is shocked into awakening. The individual's conscious mind is then forced to face the charged situation – but after the event, in retrospect. The nightmare itself can be like a shock treatment given by one portion of the self to another, in which cellular memory is touched off much as it might be in such an LSD session.

"But the self is its own best therapist. It knows precisely how many such "shocks" the psyche can take to advantage, which associations to animate through such intense experience and imagery, and which one to leave alone.

"Nightmares in series are often inner-regulated shock therapy. They may frighten the conscious self considerably, but after all it comes awake in its normal world, shaken perhaps but secure in the framework of the day.

"Other dream events, though forgotten, may also cushion the individual to withstand the effects of such "nightmare therapy." In the same way that some LSD treatment finally results in a feeling rebirth (that is often only temporary, however), so a period of such nightmares often leads quite naturally to dreams in which the self finally makes new and greater connections with the source of its own being."

Source: The Nature of Personal Reality (A Seth Book)

I'm going to contribute with a more non-spiritual answer. I always have nightmares when I sleep on my back, and no other times. This could have something to do with sleep apnea - I don't know if I have sleep apnea, but I do know that I snore like a trooper when I sleep on my back (I've been teased for my snoring more times than I can remember. Very unladylike!). So my nightmares probably have something to do with difficulty breathing when I sleep on my back. Seems I'm not the only one with this problem, as this Google search reveals.

nigth mare at night mare comes to stradle the chest of dreamer to take control of the dream and make you afraid! go lucid find it in the dream and kick is ass! the more you do it and the lest often you will have nightmare! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_(folklore) last nightmare i have add was 17 year ago! you can feel when you lose control you feel it in the dream something is wrong if you decide to find it you will find entity somewhere doing that! kick is ass! when the tiger grab one of those little devil they understand the mistake they made!