hell is dark with no flowers 1 by yoru michio (trans. taylor engel)

I understand that this is a thriller and that's why the story beats are the way they are, but I don't particularly like it. The epilogue chapter impressed me a little by departing from this, but overall, I found the humor in the writing style to be very poor and the atmosphere not particularly memorable. I do think it was better than Yami-Hara, another Yen On light novel with a similar premise. But why are there multiple novels using supernatural elements as window dressing on a banal tale about the dark side of mundane life? What are stories like these trying to say about "normies" in the first place?

human sacrifices by maria fernanda ampuero (trans. frances riddle)

 I thought it was effective social commentary "gothic" and most of the stories were individually very good - tight and suspenseful but not whiplashy, interpolating critique on gender, race, class, and nationality - I've just read a lot of this genre before.