Eyes Wide Cut

Notice the peculiar pattern on the following book covers?

See the pattern? All of the women displayed are missing part of their face or head—and all of them are missing eyes. (Although I stopped after twenty-one, I could have selected dozens more.)

I started looking for examples after this phenomena was pointed out by A.G. Harmon at Image magazine:

[K]nowing there are platoons of marketers who focus group this kind of stuff—novel titles, and the color and texture of book jackets—I’m sure this fad is the most intentional of things. That is, it’s not why I myself would do it this way: because eyes are hard to draw. No. They must be on to something; this must be a good idea, sales-wise.

But how come? I decided that eyes give too much away; they’re too committal. These books all seem intended to reserve an air of mystery, of exoticism: “if you want to know me, you must pay twenty-five dollars for the hardcover, and still you’ll only scratch the surface.”