It is a style of writing designed to make the reader squirm and see if they are brave enough to read on.

And this weekend some of the finest up-and-coming authors in the horror genre descended on Lowestoft to tell others how it's done.

Autumn: Horror in the East saw a dozen authors travel from across the country to be at a brand new convention where there were book signings, readings and talks.

The event, held at the Aspire Centre at Denes High School, was the first of its kind, and after seeing the room fill up for the afternoon panels, organiser Emma Bunn is already looking ahead to next year.

'It was a fantastic weekend,' she said. 'It went really well and I'm very pleased. We will definitely be doing it again next year; everyone was over the moon with how it went.'

Miss Bunn said that the authors were particularly happy with how the event had gone, with no other event like this in the country.

The event was set up by Miss Bunn and Jo Wilde, manager of the town's Waterstones. They had organised a successful book launch at Lowestoft library last year, and decided there was a gap in the convention circuit for horror authors.

The not-for-profit weekend stated on Friday with Ivan Bunn giving a talk on haunted Lowestoft at the Heritage Centre.

The main event on Saturday then welcomed authors Adam Baker, Henry Baker, Simon Coleby, Joseph D'Lacey, Joseph Freeman, Andrew Hook, Paul S Huggins, Iain McKinnon, Adam Millard, David Moody, Sean T Page and Conrad Williams.

During the day there were two readings, as well as four panels discussing Everything you wanted to know about Zombies but were afraid to ask, Publishing and Self Publishing, This is Horror, and Apocalypse not Now.

Professional horror make up artist Jenny Jackson was also on hand to show off her skills.

Autumn: Horror in the East is expected to return on the first weekend of November next year and Miss Bunn extended her thanks to the Aspire Centre for helping to make this year's event happen.