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Visual input that signals threat is inherently relevant for survival. Accordingly, it has been demonstrated that threatening visual input elicits faster behavioral responses than non-threatening visual input. Considering that awareness is a prerequisite for performing demanding tasks and guiding novel behavior, we hypothesized that threatening visual input would gain faster access to awareness than non-threatening visual input. In the present study, we associated one of two basic visual stimuli, that were devoid of intrinsic relevance (colored annuli), with aversive stimulation (i.e., electric shocks) following a classical fear conditioning procedure. In the subsequent test phase no more electric shocks were delivered, and a breaking continuous flash suppression task was used to measure how fast these stimuli would access awareness. The results reveal that stimuli that were previously paired with an electric shock break …