What’s the difference between nightmares and night terrors?

Nightmares are bad dreams that wake us from sleep and often make it difficult to go back to sleep. Sleep terrors, sometimes called night terrors, “is a sleep disorder that occurs when a person sits up in bed with a loud scream or cry and a look of intense fear… The person tends to be unresponsive and will be confused and disoriented if awakened. Attempts to console the person may prolong or intensify the episode…” (American Academy of Sleep Medicine Parasomnia Factsheet).