2 year old hysterical at night

Would like to know if other mums have experienced this with their 2 yr old. My son gets hysterical at night and wont settle until I lie with him and rock him. I've tried just lieing with him ignoring the crys/screams but he just gets too worked up. I thought he was teething as he would start chewing his fingers and drooling bit it doesn't make sense as he was fine leading up to bed. We keep a light on during the night so he doesn't get scared. Does this sound normal for a 2 year old