red thread

That gives me a bad gut feeling, Fly. It reminds me of a nightmare I had about two months or so ago, after I came back from a trip to new orleans with the wife and kids. I drank a whole lot before it went away, wife wasn't happy.

No way, New Orleans fits the riddle! Even more strange, Get a load of this news story from New Orleans a week before my dream:
Story from 10/13/95 (Please let me know if there's a better way/place to post this audio)

It does fit, doesn't it. That news story potentially fits the second verse, though it seems possibly linked to gang activity. That being said, in my experience of trying to get information from the police, that's a fairly standard response that often translates as "we have no bloody clue".

If you're anywhere near New Orleans, be careful Fly. I won't pretend to understand why this dream came to you, but I can only imagine there are those who would rather you weren't privy to whatever knowledge on these events you now possess. It would seem our dreams are not as private as we, or at least I had once thought.

Well.. the first lead me to this board, and the second gave me the riddle, so I'm not entirely sure it was given just to me. I feel like we're close to deciphering it. Maybe ghosts aren't the key?

《In hushed embrace of night’s sweet song,
Where souls of lovers linger long,
The tides turn red and lives are taken,
Those not of this time do waken.》
It sounds like the murders were done in order to awaken slumbering entities of the past.
A rapid search through some mythology books gives me these suggestions as to what those entities may be:

Draugrs
Zombies
Ghosts
Shades
Vampires
Demons
Jinn
Cryptids of some kind