The Chilmark Road Race is about much more than speed. How many contests pit septuagenarians against seven-year-olds? How often do you see Crocs on the starting line? Where else do people doing a 20-minute mile get such an enthusiastic round of cheers?

Eeeep-Eeeep!

As I make my way down the trail winding through the Aquinnah highland forest, the strange call repeats itself.

Eeeep-Eeeep!

I look around for the colorful bird that is surely the source of the noise. Perhaps it is one of those migratory species the Island is home to these autumn days.

Eeeep-Eeeep!

Late October swirls with the supernatural. Dropping temperatures, cheap candy and carved pumpkins all herald the coming of Halloween. Tomorrow, ethereal energies are converging at the Mystic Fair, a healing arts bazaar being held at the Vineyard Playhouse.

From Pegasus and unicorns to Mr. Ed and My Little Pony, magical, communicative horses abound in our mythologies. Tapping into this latent suspicion that our maned mounts are more than mere beasts of burden is Gary Douglas, a new age educator who calls himself the Horse Medium.

When most people think of animation, they think of Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse and Shrek, but the Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival’s Saturday evening Animation Lollapalooza aimed to dispel that misconception, showing a surprisingly adult selection including a meth-fueled teen sexuality, the systematic massacre of bubble-wrap bubbles, and a funny, amusing series about a girl trying to lose her virginity.

“You know, there are over a hundred ways you can die from pigeons,” volunteers 10-year-old Vineyarder Zale Narkiewicz. “Sometimes when they poop it has toxins that can kill you, sometimes you just have to breathe it in.”

“Well, that’s really great,” replies California-based filmmaker Gabriel Cowan, “because this movie is all about parasites.”