The legendary A Nightmare in Rotterdam event was founded in 1993, when Mid-Town Records got the opportunity to host one of the first large scale Hardcore events in Rotterdam. They asked Paul Elstak to co-create an event in the Energiehal. Paul had already organized a successful rave in the infamous club Parkzicht together with DJ Rob called ‘A Nightmare at the Park’. He decided to create a successor to this event, and ‘A Nightmare in Rotterdam’ was born. The name was based on the hit record ‘The Nightmare’ by Paul Elstak’s Holy Noise. The track samples the movie ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’. As a result, Freddy Krueger and his iconic glove became a returning element for the event.

Multiple editions of Nightmare took place at the cradle of the Hardcore scene from 1993 till 1995. Thousands of gabbers would literally make the ground shake as the bass of the distorted 909’s echoed through the Energiehal. Many international Hardcore DJs made their debut in the Netherlands at Nightmare. Sadly, the event was discontinued as the location famous for its rough atmosphere and earsplitting sound got demolished. A Nightmare in Rotterdam made a comeback in 2004 and was organized till 2012 in Rotterdam Ahoy. It featured the new Hardcore heroes of that time as well as paying homage to the original sound from a decade earlier.

In 2023 and 2024, Founder Paul Elstak and B2S joined forces to revive the legendary Hardcore event, 30 years after its first edition at the Energiehal. Two areas at Rotterdam Ahoy: the "Nightmare Arena" with current Hardcore Heroes and the "Hall of Legends" which paid homage to the Energiehal days.