I just hope he stays dead. I make no bets with Ellison. (Sort of like the early part in the movie Charade.)
He also did scripts for Burke's Law. I would recommend the episode "Who Killed 1/2 of Glory Lee" for something on the lighter side.
He was a brilliant, workaholic writer; and mean enough to fight the world (and anybody in it) to a draw for decades. . . But the house always takes its percentage.
I don't recommend reading a lot of Ellison at one sitting. As a matter of fact, <he> did not recommend reading a lot of his work at one sitting.
To get a feel for Harlan Ellison, the person, I recommend his work, "Driving In The Spikes". It is not a story, but a real-life event (I once owned one of the paperbacks in question.)
As to his writing, darkness was his stock in trade. Horror was too simplistic to call it, but darkness. His earlier story tended to be more organized (as stories), his later ones had more kick in them. And he wrote <a lot> of them!
A few high points:
The Death Bird
Deeper than The Darkness
A Boy And His Dog
Jeffety Is Five
Paingod
"Repent" Said The Harlequin To The TickTock Man
Shattered Like a Glass Goblin
Catman
I could go on. . . .But I said "A FEW".