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In English, the word "nightmare" isn't used just literally for a bad dream you have at night-time, but also metaphorically to describe a very bad scenario, such as "Can Samsung recover from its Galaxy Note 7 nightmare?".
Can 悪夢 be used metaphorically? jisho.org seems to suggest it can't be, but I've seen someone translate a metaphorical use of "nightmare" using "悪夢", possibly incorrectly.
Yes. 悪夢 can be used metaphorically.
１ いやな恐ろしい夢。また、不吉な夢。「―にうなされる」
２ 夢としか思えないような、思い出すのもいやで恐ろしい現実のたとえ。「戦争の―」
2 is what you mentioned. For example, 戦争の悪夢 is like "nightmare of war".
Absolutely.
i.e.,
津波｛つなみ｝を見｛み｝て、まるで悪夢｛あくむ｝を見｛み｝ているかのようだ！
Watching the tsunami was such a nightmare!
It just really stresses that the situation was one of the worst, or like a nightmare.
In English, the word "nightmare" is very often used metaphorically. When it's used literally, it's often within a story, novel, movie, ... .
I'd say in Jp, the word 悪夢 is used metaphorically with an even greater frequency. -- or that 悪夢 is used literally with an even smaller frequency.
It's an interesting puzzle to wonder why that is.
