Page:Beyond Fantasy Fiction Volume 1 Issue 1 (1953-07).djvu/4



N offering this bright new magazine to you, the publisher and staff of GALAXY Science Fiction make no attempt to conceal their proud smiles, for we believe that BEYOND will have the same impact on fantasy that GALAXY has had on science fiction.

What can you expect to find in BEYOND?

The unexpected, of course.

For BEYOND considers all things possible, from the alluring wistfulness of "Eye for Iniquity" to the terror-laden nightmare of "All of You," the alarmingly amusing "Babel II," the subtly intense beauty of " And My Fear Is Great "

Does BEYOND really consider everything possible?

No, not really. It rules out two things:

—The probably possible.

—The unentertaining.

Naturally, that leaves the impossible provided it makes a stimulating story.

From time to time, we're bound to err in separating the possible from the impossible; nobody is perfect. For example, naturalists had every reason not to believe in the legendary Kraken, a fabulous Norwegian squid so enormous that it could swamp a fishing boat obviously just another fish story.

Well, the Kraken has been proved to exist, but that only shows how absurd reality can be.

It also demonstrates the realities that are greater than the five-sense reality we know, since:

—Fantasy is the oldest form of literature, dating back long before the invention of writing.

—The profound truths in fantasy have had to be discovered by every generation, only to be scoffed at and then rediscovered by the next.

Some time before World War II, I met a scholar who was being sent on an official mission to search ancient manuscripts for an influenza cure that was thought to have once been known and subsequently lost. I have no idea how he made out, but I'm sure he saw no merit in the molds used then—molds that we only recently have found again and named antibiotics.

—Only an incompetent psycho-therapist would deny that all fantasies are psychic realities.

Well, then, is fantasy "escapist" literature, as critics love to tage it?

Certainly, but not in the superficial way they mean:

—Reality involves the acting out of unconscious fantasy.

—Fantasy is the unconscious interpretation of reality. 2