It does, but I only realize it after having finished the first book. The truth is, if I came across this in a book shop, I’d never give it a second look, thinking YA romance or something. The stark colours and the manga-like characters stand out more than the vague implicit threat of the details.
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We have very different impressions! When I first saw the second cover my immediate thought was, “Oh this will be dark, won’t it?” The first one I don’t really have a strong opinion on. I’d probably pass it over too, but it doesn’t feel romance-y to me, but gives some kind of Mean Girls vibe almost 
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I’m late to the party, so someone might have said it already, but there’s literally “horror” written on the cover 
Ah, there’s another one in the second batch.
And in many subsequent covers.
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Yes, I should have been more specific. When I say “cover” I mean cover art, not text. When I’m quickly scanning a bookshelf or tiny thumbnails on a website, i usually only take in the image as a whole, without reading. 
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Sure, but it’s really hard to ignore the logo! Having read more than a few Kadokawa Bunko Horror, I find the circled letter (k?) extremely recognizable.
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Sorry to revive this literally over a week later, but since you said you’re Swedish, I think it’s more a linguistic/cultural difference. In English “literary fiction” is most definitely a subgenre of fiction. Basically fiction is divided into two main camps “literary fiction” and “genre fiction.” Literary fiction is considered more prestegious and high brow and genre fiction is seen as being “for the masses.” Where exactly the line is between say, “fantasy” and “literary fiction with fantastical elements/ magic realism” is highly debatable and mostly has to do with elitism and the perceived prestige of the author/work
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Thank you for the link. It describes exactly what I had been trying to describe.
Literary fiction, mainstream fiction, non-genre fiction or serious fiction is a label that, in the book trade, refers to market novels that do not fit neatly into an established genre (see genre fiction); or, otherwise, refers to novels that are character-driven rather than plot-driven, examine the human condition, use language in an experimental or poetic fashion, or are simply considered serious art.
Interesting that there are many terms for it yet none of them feel satisfactory, and that one of the terms is “mainstream” fiction, which certainly doesn’t make it feel more prestigious or of particular artistic merit.
Edit: Any idea what that “non-genre” might be called in Japanese?
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This describes it really well, thanks.
Adding to this as someone who went to college for Creative Writing in the US - there’s a weird obsession over here (and in some other countries also) with the idea that genre fiction like fantasy, romance, etc. can’t be well written. The modern publishing genres were originally defined as ways to sell cheap, poorly made books (like dime novels), so there’s a lingering assumption among many academics that if a story fits a genre, it must be badly written.
This is completely stupid, in my opinion - there are well written books in every genre - but that’s a big part of why “literary fiction” is talked about as a special category. Writers who want to be considered “serious artists” have to make sure their writing doesn’t fit any genre (or heaven forbid, have magic in it), or else it won’t even be considered for a lot of prestigious prizes and honors.
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Well, the same article also states this:
While literary fiction is commonly regarded as artistically superior to genre fiction, the two are not mutually exclusive, and major literary figures have employed the genres of science fiction, crime fiction, romance, etc., to create works of literature. Furthermore, the study of genre fiction has developed within academia in recent decades.
The thing with genre fiction is that it does sell more easily, because readers know what to expect, and therefore whether they’ll probably like it. It’s also easy to write mindlessly, by just following a set of rules and patterns, resulting in works resembling one another in everything but the details. This does not mean that genre fiction cannot be of great artistic and literary merit, nor that non-genre fiction will necessarily be deep and “serious”. Anyone who has read more than a couple of books must have noticed that there are masterpieces and forgettable specimens in any category, and also that there are many enjoyable books that may have low literary value but are great fun, and that’s fine too.
My problem is that I’m often in the mood for such a novel, that is not bound by genre or plot. Yet I’ve found no good keyword to use to look for it. Unless it’s received a literary award, or I already know the author, such books are almost impossible to find. Any tips appreciated 
(covers should be a good indicator, if only I could make sense of what they’re telling me…)
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I think the general term for this is 小説 (I think this corresponds to “novel”)? The overarching term for “literary writing” is probably 文学, and if you ask 文学 - Wikipedia they list a whole number of subcategories - maybe you can find some suitable search terms in there…
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I wonder if it’s as simple as 文芸? I just remembered the discussion of ライト芸 which was a more “high class” ラノベ
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Yeah, 文芸(作品) and 文学 seem right. This amazon.co.jp category might be useful.
My guess is that genre fiction was originally pretty niche and didn’t become widely popular until after the term “mainstream fiction” was established.
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Sadly, this is also true for some non-genre fiction. There are certain tropes that do really well when selling to the “literary” reading crowd.
Have you noticed yourself liking any specific themes or dynamics? If you just want something well written that’s not in a specific genre, then yeah, it’s hard to search for. But if you especially like parent-child relationships, or characters with a rich interior life, or something like that, then that gives a starting place for the search. One of my favorite booktubers puts out videos on things like “best found-family novels”, or “smart protagonists”, and it’s a fun way to find books that are similar in non-genre-specific ways.
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Follow authors you like on social media. Authors, especially those with similar writing styles, will often talk to each other/know each other and will promote each other’s work. If there’s a particular publisher that often publishes books you like (works best for small imprints) following them on social media also works. They often do promo before the books are published, so I save the books on Goodreads and then go read them once they’ve been published
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Regarding this kind of thing, I feel like if only some of the title is in red and the rest a more standard color, then it’s likely to be horror. If people have examples that back up or disprove this, please feel free to share.
I think it also works for movie posters though
edit: I saw this movie poster a lot when I first moved to Japan. So maybe just use of red in the title?
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Has anyone seen these in a conbini? I feel like I only ever see them in bento or sushi places that have take out.
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It looks like a coffin to me. I feel like I’ve seen something similar in a museum but my memory could be jumbling it with ancient Chinese coffins.
If it is a Japanese coffin, then post gourd/barrel pre cremation I would assume
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Red = blood 
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Unfortunately I usually just want something fresh and surprising, an angle on things that I didn’t even know to look for. And it’s often the writing style, not the content itself, that leaves an impression on me, and that’s almost impossible to search for of course. You only know it suits you when you’re already reading. In any case, this booktuber you mention sounds like a fun way to discover things. Any booktuber recommendations are always welcome 
Good strategies, both of them. They get easier to use the more you read, as you gain experience in how to navigate the reading world. I’m relatively new in my Japanese reading journey, but I think I can start implementing them and see what that gets me. Thanks.
Yeah, red seems to be pretty much universal in communicating blood or at least tension (although in China for example it’s used for celebration a lot, I’m not sure about book covers) I don’t see much red in the horror covers I posted here though, which is probably why subconsciously they didn’t look like horror to me?
As for counterexamples, it’s been a while since I read this, but I wouldn’t consider it horror at all, just a mystery:
And this is actually an autobiography with touches of humour, no horror anywhere although I guess growing up in poverty in the aftermath of the 2nd world war is a more real horror than most
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I‘d try searching for 純文学 maybe?
The Akutagawa prize is mostly 純文学, while the Naoki prize is more 大衆文学.
(Sadly,) Google searches often list lots of literary classics such as Soseki, Akutagawa, Mishima, Dazai in their „must read 純文学“, so finding some „modern“ examples might not be that easy.
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