[1] Although not a commercial success, it included several short stories by authors such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury and Philip K.

[3] Beyond's first issue, dated July 1953, included an editorial by Gold in which he laid out the magazine's scope, excluding (in his words) only "the probably possible" and "the unentertaining".

Other writers who appeared in the magazine included Jerome Bixby, John Wyndham, James E. Gunn, Fredric Brown, Frederik Pohl (both under his own name and with Lester del Rey under the joint pseudonym "Charles Satterfield"), Philip José Farmer, Randall Garrett, Zenna Henderson, and Algis Budrys.

However, Fred Pohl, who was editor of Galaxy Publishing Co. from 1960-1969,[8] stated in 1967 that the magazine showed a loss of $40,000 (equivalent to $365,509 in 2023) during its publication.

"[10] According to science-fiction historian Donald H. Tuck, Beyond published "some very good material,"[11] with appearances by many well-known authors, and the magazine is often cited as being the successor to the unusual fantasy tradition of Unknown.

"[13] Not everyone thought the magazine was completely successful in emulating Unknown, however; P. Schuyler Miller, reviewing an anthology drawn from the pages of Beyond, was generally approving but commented that "Except for Budrys, Pohl, Brown and Sturgeon, these stories from Beyond are rather self-conscious.

"[14] Beyond's selection of stories has been described by science fiction historian Michael Ashley as "seeking to achieve … high quality fantasy fiction acceptable to all readers"; he adds that Beyond was more artistically successful than Fantastic, a competitor in this niche, because Gold "had a clearer vision and was more determined … to achieve it.

… despite sales problems, Gold persisted in publishing fiction that sought to stretch the boundaries of imagination.

Issue 10 used the new, shorter title on the cover and spine, but reverted to Beyond Fantasy Fiction for the table of contents.

The magazine was bimonthly, but issues 9 and 10 did not carry month and year dates, which has led different bibliographers to catalogue them in different ways.